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EXPOSITIO]|^!^^ 



THIRTY-NINE ARtlCLES 



CHURCH OF ENGLAND: 



BY 

G I L B E RT^' BISHOP OF SARUMllpJ^^fa^ 



AN APPENDIX 

CONTAINING THE AUGSBURG CONFESSION, CREED OF POPE PIUS IV., &c. 
REVISED AND CORRECTED, 

WITH COPIOUS N0TE6, AND ADDITIONAL REFERENCES, 

BY THE 

REV. JAMES RrPAGE, A.M. 

OF queen's college, CAMBRIDGE, MINISTER OF CARLISLE CHAPEL, LAMBETH. 



LONDON: 

PRINTED FOR SCOTT, WEBSTER, AND GEARY, 
36, CHARTERHOUSE SQUARE. 
1837. 



TO THE MOST REVEREND FATHER IN GOD, 

WILLIAM HOWLEY, D.D , 

LORD ARCHBISHOP OF CANTERBURY, 
&c., &c., &c. 



My Lord/ 

I should only transgress the bounds of propriety, 
and do violence to your Grace's feelings_, were I to trespass 
upon you with a tedious or complimentary address. 

I cannot, however, but say, that, in availing myself of your 
Grace's kind and condescending permission, it is to me a 
cause of much thankfulness and sincere gratification to 
dedicate this volume to your Grace, not alone because of the 
high station in which Providence has placed you, but also 
because I believe that the merits of Bishop Burnet's ' Expo- 
sition of the Thirty-nine Articles' are well known to, and 
duly appreciated by, your Grace. 

My earnest desire. My Lord, has been to make this valu- 
able work still more useful to the church of England. Should 
my efforts be even in the least degree successful, I shall, I 



DEDICATION. 



am persuaded, have done something towards the attainment 
of an object near to your Grace's heart. 

That ^ the great Shepherd and Bishop of souls' may abun- 
dantly bless your Grace here, and crown you with glory 
hereafter, is the prayer of 

Your Grace's 
Most obedient and obliged humble Servant, 

JAMES R. PAGE. 



London, Dec. 1836. 



It has been justly observed by a great master of nature^ 

* The evil that men do lives after them : 
' The good is oft interred with their bones/ 

But with the man who serves God in his generation it is far 
otherwise; for, while his manifold infirmities vanish away like 
the morning cloud, his ^work of faith and labour of love' 
linger behind, and by them ' he, being dead, yet speaketh.' 
The marble and brass are employed — but employed in vain 
— to perpetuate the memory of that man of whom it may be 
said, ^ he did no good among his people while the unassum- 
ing work of the other lives to be valued by each succeeding 
generation. Thus it, was, and thus it has been, with our 
Author. He laboured for his Redeemer; ^was a man subject 
to like passions as we are ;' encountered no small share of 
reviling and calumny : but his failings are gone — the tongue 
of insult has long since been silent in the grave ; while his 
writings have erected for him a monument which can never 
moulder away, so long as that church, of which he was so 
bright an ornament, shall exist. Indeed, his fame is not 
bounded by the circle of his own church, or his own country. 
But it is not our present business to treat of these subjects ; 
neither to enter into any comparison between the several 
writings of that great man. The Editor's observations must 
be confined to that book, with which (however unworthy) 
he has the honour of being connected. Of that volume he 
can safely say, that, although some alterations for the better 

a 2 



4* 



EDITOR'S preface:. 



might be made in its style and arrangement^ take it ^for all 
in all/ it is a splendid work. And were the writer to add his 
own experience he would say, that the more it is explored 
the more valuable instruction it will bestow. Our Author 
was a man of great mind and extensive learning ; and, as is 
common to such men, imagined that his readers were likely 
to know as much as himself: therefore, he did not so fully 
develope some subjects and arguments as, in condescension 
to the weakness of others, he should have done. Hence we 
find some most important points so buried in his work, that 
the student must first learn them by taking a more extensive 
course of reading ; but then he is at once delighted and sur- 
prised to discover, on renewing his acquaintance with Burnet, 
that what has been gleaned in the choicest gardens of theo- 
logy, had merely escaped his observation when he first read 
the 'Exposition of the Thirty-nine Articles.^ iijsiuiii 

Bishop Burnet had long felt the want of such a volume as 
that which he has supplied. This, together with the solicita^ 
tions of the Queen, archbishop Tillotson, and other distin- 
guished individuals, and the great influx of popish priests, 
who were actively engaged in calumniating the doctrine of 
our church, induced the Bishop to commence the work, 
which was carefully revised by Tillotson and Stillingfleet ; 
and, when complete, dedicated to Wilham III. But we must 
allow the Bishop to give his own interesting account : — 

' I pubhshed this year (1699) an Exposition of the Thirty- 
nine Articles of Religion : it seemed a work much wanted, 
and it was justly to be wondered at, that none of our divines 
had attempted any such performance, in a way suitable to 
the dignity of the subject : for some slight analyses of them 
are not worth either mentioning or reading. It was a work 
that required study and labour, and laid a man open to many 
attacks ; this made some of my friends advise me against 
publishing it ; in compliance with them, I kept it five years 
by me, after I had finished it : but I was now prevailed on 
by the Archbishop, and many of my own order, besides a 



EDITOR'S PREFACE. 



great many others, to delay the pubhshing it no longer. It 
seemed a proper addition to the History of the Reformation, 
to explain and prove the doctrine which was then established. 
I was moved first by the late Glueen, and pressed by the late 
Archbishop, to write it : I can appeal to the Searcher of all 
hearts, that I wrote it with great sincerity and a good inten- 
tion ; and with all the application and care I was capable of. 
I did then expect, what I have since met with, that malicious 
men would employ both their industry and ill-nature to find 
matter for censure and cavils ; but though there have been 
some books writ on purpose against it, and many in sermons 
and other treatises have occasionally reflected, with great 
severity, upon several passages in it, yet this has been done 
with so little justice or reason, that I am not yet convinced, 
that there is one single period or expression that is justly 
remarked on, or that can give me any occasion either to 
retract, or so much as to explain any one part of that whole 
work; which I was very ready to have done, if I had seen 
cause for it. There was another reason that seemed to 
determine me to the publishing it at this time. Upon the 
peace of Ryswick, a great swarm of priests came over to 
England ; not only those whom the Revolution had frighted 
away, but many more new men, who appeared in many places 
with great insolence ; and it was said that they boasted of the 
favour and protection of which they were assured,' iyy- hf,,:, 

Some of those arguments which influenced the good Bishop 
might now be urged, were any apology required for sending 
forth a new edition of such a work. There may however be 
some apology necessary for this edition:' but we trust that, 
when the following brief outline is examined, those who might 
be disposed to censure any interference with Bishop Burnet 
will be satisfied ; and that, when they have learned that Burnet 
is still before them, they will be pleased to accept the humble 
industry of the Editor. 

In the first place, the Author's text has been preserved 
with strict fidelity; indeed, in some places, where the Editor 



EDITOR'S PREFACE. 



felt it almost necessary to make some alteration^ he^ upon 
consulting the earlier editions, and observing the reading 
similar, left the words as he found them. baa anonaO odi 

2d. The references to the fathers, councils, and other 
authorities, have been almost universally verified; and, in 
many instances, corrected, and so enlarged as to render them 
easy of access to the student. 

3d. A large number of scripture references have been 
added. In different parts of his work. Bishop Burnet lays 
down propositions without giving the scriptures by which 
they may be proved. Thus, in Art. VI. p. 92, our Author 
states two propositions — God^s command to put in writing 
what he had revealed ; and the end contemplated-— the guard- 
ing against the uncertainty of tradition. Again, in pp. 97, 98, 
there are several distinct propositions — ^that the Old Testa- 
ment was read in the hearing of the women and children — 
that all appeals were made to the law and prophets — that the 
greatest questions were decided by the written word. Burnet 
appears to have assumed that all his readers could, without 
delay, produce the scriptures in proof of these positions. The 
Editor has, however, added references in these and all other 
instances where they might be considered not merely addi- 
tions, but also improvements. 

4th. The canons and decrees of councils, and other docu- 
ments of importance, referred to, have been given in the 
original, and from the most authentic sources — the places 
where they are to be found being specified. 

5th. Copious notes have been added, containing, besides 
other information, notices of the principal heretics and per- 
sons of note, with an accurate account of their opinions : also 
extracts, chiefly from the works of the most distinguished 
divines of the sixteenth and seventeenth centuries, opening 
and illustrating the chief points in controversy between us 
and the church of Rome. In an Appendix lias also been 



EDITOR'S PREFACE. 



7* 



given the Confession of Augsburg, and Creed of pope Pius IV. 
in the English and original tongues ; and, in the original only, 
the Canons and Rubric of the Mass. .^fyifm oiii *lsf :tdlmk 

Indices of Texts of Scripture, and of the matter contained 
in the Notes, have also been given, together with a list of 
Authors quoted in the Editor's portion of the volumq^^ ycji^-r 

In fine, the Editor^s design has been to make, as far as was 
possible within such a compass, this great work what he 
humbly hopes it may be found — a manual for the theological 

student*,, g^^^^-S ^^-'-^ii^^iW €;iIUiJx.iuqOl(j ilV/uL 

The Editor has, in conclusion, but to request the kind inr 
dulgence of the pubhc ; and to hope that his readers will be 
more anxious to discover some good, than to seek out faults, 
in his work. He would now commit the result of his labours 
to the great Head of the church, with sincere prayer that He 
would be pleased to pardon its imperfections, and to accept 
and bless it to the promotion of His own glory, 

i'trw pbfoof> m'^hiim ^^ff Up .i«d't Jr^^rn^^^n ^v^rf pruviqqr 
JAMES R. PAGE, A. M. 



London f Dec, 1836. 



. y^ddi 513 dw 



jjd ^ahmiMoD Jisbbsi nood o^nd miotf '^uoiqoO c 
•'T9q bm 8oi.i3i&rf bqbnmj oxD to : mnolin .• 

; J isom Qdi lo sjhow odi r-^- - ^: %ido ^gjoBiiza 

gfrlitsqo ^aai-ojinao dia^^ia^Y^^ bnti d:. -,d^ \o zmhib 



- . ^ jVEd isoY iadw ' 
rasb srf;? o:tjTl bsl ^Ifo^^^ nsad bsd'orfw v 
xiiGii iiJg.a8iia Bub iioqqua ^aslssi^ ale bsd liox^tfiimolgr" 

YTaauAM tnoY .mbonnlmo b issi-g oa mo'V: : ' " - ^ 

asgod ino Ms Bij 

asauslqqs asorij bim ^01 rnoDB dsii^ slsiiml adit 
— '3 TA3Jix) ^sm laliwa e^oY Y/oIIal . sisdw V 
■ iob is J ^on 81 iio7/ tifoy jsdt ^iroY Il9;t oS' 

id^on doidv/ siolad bna ^ebnsd ' oO 

. ; bns giimoqqxfa sdJ m ^bnsia c. : dad 
HI 5^9iqml bfiB Y^llabAnl nwob gnhssd sdi m ^dtymdO zidS 
goTomB Qbem 01s ^sd^ asdoBvSid bn^s abnirow adi gitifB^d adi 
yffqqsdnu ais tod ^dfm\ gldi agoloiq fiommoo fxi ob od 
>o oi£ ^i^di 890fi9i^xb 9mo8 bsbhrlb bus ba^ . : 

sdi ni ^agnid* IIb 9vod,s ^bnjs tooimfsoqiri: 



V 



TO THE 

KING. 

SIR, 

The title of Defender of the Faith, the noblest of all those 
which belong to this imperial crown, that has received a new 
lustre by Your Majesty^s carrying it, is that which You have 
so gloriously acquired, that if Your Majesty had not found 
it among them, what You have done must have secured it to 
Yourself by the best of all claims. We should be as much 
ashamed not to give it to Your Majesty, as we were to give it 
to those who had been fatally led into the design of overturn- 
ing that, which has been beyond all the examples in history 
preserved and hitherto maintained by Your Majesty. 

The Reformation had its greatest support and strength from 
the crown of England ; while two of Your renowned ancestors 
were the chief defenders of it in foreign parts. The blood of 
England mixing so happily with theirs, in your royal person, 
seemed to give the world a sure prognostic of what might be 
looked for from so great a conjunction. Your Majesty has 
outdone all expectations ; and has brought matters to a state 
far beyond aU our hopes. 

But amidst the laurels that adorn You, and those applauses 
that do every where follow You, suffer me, Great Sir, in 
aU. humility to tell You, that your work is not yet done, nor 
your glory complete, tiU You have employed that power which 
God has put in your hands, and before which nothing has 
been able hitherto to stand, in the supporting and securing 
this Church, in the bearing down Infidelity and Impiety, in 
the heahng the wounds and breaches that are made among 
those who do in common profess this faith, but are unhappily 
disjointed and divided by some differences that are of less 
importance : and, above all things, in the raising the power 
and efficacy of this religion, by a suitable reformation of our 
lives and manners. 



vi 



EPISTLE DEDICATORY. 



How much soever men's hearts are out of the reach of 
human authority^ yet their Uves^ and all outward appearances^ 
are gOA^erned by the example and influences of their Sove- 
reigns. 

The effectual pursuing of these designs^ as it is the greatest 
of all those glories of which mortals are capable ; so it seems 
to be the only thing that is now wanting^ to finish the bright- 
est and perfectest character that wiU be in history. 

It was in order to the promoting these ends^ that I under- 
took this work ; which I do now most humbly lay before Your 
Majesty, with the profoundest respect and submission. 

May God preserve Your Majesty, till You have glo- 
riously finished what You have so wonderfully carried on. 
All that You have hitherto set about, how smaU soever the 
beginnings and hopes were, has succeeded in your hands, to 
the amazement of the whole world : the most desperate face 
of affairs has been able to give You no stop. - . , 

Your Majesty seems born under an ascendant of Provi- 
dence ; and therefore, how low soever all our hopes are, either 
of raising the power of religion, or of uniting those who 
profess it ; yet v/e have been taught to despair of nothing that 
is once undertaken by Your Majesty. ^ 
=3 This will secure to You the blessing of the present and of 
aH succeeding ages, and a fuU reward in that glorious and im- 
mortal state that is before You : to which, that Your Ma- 
jesty may have a sure, though a late admittance,^ is the daily 
and most earnest prayer of. 

May it please Your MAJESTY, 
Your Majesty's most loyal, 
most obedient, and most 

devoted subject and servant, 
GI. SAKUM, C. G. 



^7 5T OT A n T f Tv! fT '♦f TT"? Tf T '~ 



PREFACE 

It has been often reckoned among the things that were 
wanting, that we had not a full and clear explanation of the 
Thirty-nine Articles, which are the sum of our doctrine, and 
the confession of our faith. The modesty of some, and the 
caution of others, may have obliged them to let alone an un- 
dertaking, tliat might seem too assuming for any man to ven- 
ture on, without a command from those who had authority to 
give it. It has been likewise often suggested, that those 
Articles seemed to be so plain a transcript of St. Austin's 
doctrine, in those much disputed points, concerning the de- 
crees of God, and the efficacy of grace, that they were not 
expounded by our divines for that very reason ; since the far 
greater number of them is believed to be now of a different 
opinion. 

I should have kept within the same bounds, if I had not been 
first moved to undertake this work by that great prelate, who 
then sat at the helm : and after that, determined in it by a 
command that was sacred to me by respect, as well as by duty. 
Our late primate lived long enough to see the design finished. 
He read it over with an exactness that was peculiar to him. 
He employed some weeks wholly in perusing it, and he cor- 
rected it with a care that descended even to the smallest mat- 
ters ; and was such as he thought became the importance of 
this work. And when that was done, he returned it to me 
with a letter, that, as it was the last I ever had from him, so 
it gave the whole such a character, that how much soever that 
might raise its value with true judges, yet in decency it must 
be suppressed by me, as being far beyond what any perform- 
ance of mine could deserve. He gave so favourable an account 
of it to our late blessed queen, that she was pleased to tell 
me, she would find leisure to read it : and the last time that 
I was admitted to the honour of waiting on her, she com- 
manded me to bring it to her. But she was soon after that 
carried to the source, to the fountain of life, in whose light she 
now sees both light and truth. So great a breach as was then 
made upon all our hopes put a stop upon this, as well as upon 
much greater designs. 

This work has lain by me ever since : but has been often 
not only reviewed by myself, but by much better judges. The 
late most learned bishop of Worcester read it very carefully. 
He marked every thing in it that he thought needed a review; 



viii 



PREFACE. 



and his censure was in all points submitted to. He expressed 
himself so well pleased with it to myself^ and to some others, 
that I do not think it becomes me to repeat what he said of it. 
Both the most reverend archbishops, with several of the 
bishops, and a great many learned divines, have also read it. 
I must, indeed, on many accounts own, that they may be 
inclined to favour me too much, and to be too partial to me; 
yet they looked upon this work as a thing of that importance, 
that I have reason to believe they read it over severely : and 
if some small corrections may be taken for an indication that 
they saw no occasion for greater ones, I had this likewise from 
several of them. 

Yet after all these approbations, and many repeated desires 
to me to publish it, I do not pretend to impose this upon the 
reader as the work of authority. For even our most reverend 
metropolitans read it only as private divines, without so severe 
a canvassing of all particulars as must have been expected, if 
this had been intended to pass for an authorized work under 
a pubhc stamp. Therefore my design in giving this relation 
of the motives that led me first to compose, and now to pub- 
lish this, is only to justify myself, both in the one and in the 
other, and to shew that I was not led by any presumption of 
my own, or with any design to dictate to others. 

In the next place I will give an account of the method in 
which I executed this design. When I was a professor of 
divinity thirty years ago, I was then obliged to run over a great 
many of the systems and bodies of divinity that were writ by 
the chief men of the several divisions of Christendom. I found 
many things among them that I could not like : the stiffness 
of method, the many dark terms, the niceties of logic, this 
artificial definitions, the heaviness as well as the sharpness 
of style, and the diffusive length of them, disgusted me : I 
thought the whole might well be brought into less compass, 
and be made shorter and more clear, less laboured, and more 
simple. I thought many controversies might be cut off, some 
being only disputes about words, and founded on mistakes ; 
and others being about matters of little consequence, in which 
errors are less criminal, and so they may be more easily borne 
with. This set me then on composing a great work in divinity : 
but I stayed not long enough in that station to go through 
above the half of it. I entered upon the same design again, 
but in another method, during my stay at London, in the 
privacy that I then enjoyed, after I had finished the history of 
our Reformation. These were advantages which made this 
performance much the easier to me: and perhaps the late 
archbishop might, from what he knew of the progress I had 
made in them, judge me the more proper for this undertaking. 
For after I have said so much to justify my own engaging in 
such a work, I think I ought to say all I can to justify, or 
at least to excuse, his making choice of me for it. 



PREFACE. 



IX 



When I liad resolved to try what I could do in this method^ 
of following the thread of our Articles^ I considered^ that as I 
was to explain the Articles of this churchy so I ought to exa- 
mine the writings of the chief divines that lived either at the 
time in which they were prepared, or soon after it. When I 
was about the history of our Reformation, I had laid out for 
all the books that had been writ within the time comprehended 
in that period : and I was confirmed in my having succeeded 
well in that collection, by a printed catalogue, that was put out 
by one Mansel, in the end of queen Ehzabeth^s reign, of all 
the books that had been printed from the time that printing- 
presses were first set up in England to that year. This I had 
from the present lord archbishop of York ; and I saw by it, 
that very few books had escaped my search. Those that I had 
not fallen on were not writ by men of name, nor upon impor- 
tant subjects. I resolved, in order to this work, to bring my 
inquiry further down. 

The first, and indeed the much best writer of queen Ehza- 
beth^s time, was bishop Jewel ; the lasting honour of the see 
in which the pro^ddence of God has put me, as well as of the 
age in which he lived ; who had so great share in all that was 
done then, particularly in compihng the second book of Homi- 
lies, that I had great reason to look on his works as a very sm-e 
commentary on our Articles, as far as they led me. From him 
I carried doT\Ti my search through Reynolds, Humphreys, 
Whitaker, and the other great men of that time. 

Our divines were much diverted in the end of that reign 
from better inquiries, by the disciplinarian controversies ; and 
though what Whitgift and Hooker writ on those heads was 
much better than all that came after them ; yet they neither 
satisfied those against whom they WTit, nor stopped the Avrit- 
ings of their own side. But as waters gush in when the banks 
are once broken, so the breach that these had made proved 
fruitful. Parties were formed, secular interests were grafted 
upon them, and new quarrels followed those that first began 
the dispute. The contests in Holland concerning predestina- 
tion drew on another scene of contention among us as well as 
them, which was managed mth great heat. Here was matter 
for angry men to fight it out, till they themselves and the 
whole nation grew weary of it. The question about the mo- 
rahty of the Fourth Commandment was an unhappy incident 
that raised a new strife. The controversies with the church 
of Rome were for a long while much laid down. The arch- 
bishop of Spalata^s* works had appeared with great pomp in 

* Marcus Antonius De Dorainis, first a Jesuit, afterwards archbishop of Spa- 
lata. He visited England for the pui'pose of reconciling the Protestants and papists ; 
to further this end he wrote a book, entitled ' De Republica Ecclesiastica.' He 
embraced the Protestant faith, | and afforded,' says Hume, ' great triumph to the nation 
by their gaining so considerable a proselyte from the papists. But the mortification 
followed soon after : the archbishop, though advanced to some ecclesiastical prefer- 
ments, received not enough to gratify his ambition.' He retracted his protest against 



PREFACE. 



king James's time, and they drew the observation of the learned 
world much after tliem ; though his unhappy relapse, and fatal 
catastrophe, made tliem be less read afterwards than they well 
deserved to have been. 

When the progress of the house of Austria began to give 
their neighbours great apprehensions, so that the Protestant 
religion seemed to come under a very thick cloud, and upon 
that jealousies began to arise at home, in king Charleses reign, 
this gave occasion to two of the best books that we yet have : 
the one set out by archbishop Laud, writ with great learning, 
judgment, and exactness ; the other by Chillingvforth, writ with 
so clear a thread of reason, and in so lively a style, that it was 
justly reckoned the best book that had been writ in our lann 
guage. It was about the nicest point in popery, that by which 
they had made the most proselytes, and that had once imposed 
on himself, concerning the infallibihty of the church, and the: 
motives of credibility. 

Soon after that, we fell into the confusions of civil war^ in 
which our divines suffered so much, that, while they were 
put on their own defence against those that had broke the 
peace of the church and state, few books were written, but 
on those subjects that were then in debate among ourselves, 
concerning the government of the church, and our liturgy and 
ceremonies. The disputes about the decrees of God were 
again managed with a new heat. There were also great abk 
stractions set on foot in those times concerning justification 
by faith^ and these were both so subtile, and did seem to have 
such a tendency not only to antinomianism, but to a libertine 
course of life, that many books were writ on those subjects. 
That noble work of the Polyglot Bible, together with the col- 
lection of the critics, set our divines much on the study of 
the scriptures, and the oriental tongues, in which Dr. Pocock 
and Dr. Lightfoot were singularly eminent. In all Dr. Ham- 
mond's writings, one sees great learning and solid judgment ; 
a just temper in managing controversies ; and, above all, a 
spirit of true and primitive piety, with great application to the 
right understanding of the scriptures, and the directing of all 
to practice. Bishop Pearson on the Creed, as far as it goes, 
is the perfectest work we have. His learning was profound 
and exact, his method good, and his style clear : he was 
equally happy both in the force of his arguments, and in the 
plainness of his expressions. 

Upon the restoration of the royal family, and the church, 
the first scene of writing was naturally laid in the late times. 



popery, and returned to Rome. There it appears tliat his opinions were changed 
again, for he wrote letters to England expressive of regret at the step he had taken. 
Some of these were intercepted, and led to his imprisonment by command of Pope 
Urban VIII. He died in confinement in the year 1625. Hume styles him, 'the 
famous Antonio De Dominis, no despicable philosopher;' and according to Cave, he 
was the author of the first philosophical account of the rainbow. — [Ed.] 



PREFACE. 



xi 



and with relation to conformity. But we quickly saiv that 
popery was a restless things and was the standing enemy of 
our church : so soon as that shewed itself, then our divines 
returned to those controversies, in which no man bare a 
greater share, and succeeded in it with more honour, than 
bishop Stillingfleet, both in his vindication of archbishop 
Laud, and in the long continued dispute concerning the idol- 
atry of the church of Rome, When the dangers of popery 
came nearer us, and became sensible to all persons, then a 
great number of our divines engaged in those controversies. 
They writ short and plain, and yet brought together, in a 
great variety of small tracts, the substance of all that was 
contained in the large volumes, writ both by our own divines 
and by foreigners. There was in these a solidity of argu- 
ment, mixed with an agreeableness in the way of writing, that 
both pleased and edified the nation ; and did very much con- 
found, and at last silence, the few and weak writers that were 
of the Romish side. The inequality that was in this contest 
was too visible to be denied ; and therefore they, who set it 
first on foot, let it fall : for they had other methods to which 
they trusted more, than to that unsuccessful one of writing. 
In those treatises, the substance of all our former books is so 
fully contained, and so well delivered, that in them the doc- 
trines of our church, as to all controverted points, are both 
clearly and copiously set forth. 

The perusing of all this was a large field: and yet I thought 
it became me to examine all with a due measure of exactness. 
I have taken what pains I could to digest every thing in the 
clearest method, and in the shortest compass, into which I 
could possibly bring it. So that in what I have done, I am, 
as to the far greatest part, rather an historian and a collector 
of what others have writ, than an author myself. This I 
have performed faithfully, and I hope with some measure of 
diligence and exactness ; yet if, in such a variety, some im- 
portant matters are forgot^ and if others are mistaken, I am 
so far from reckoning it an injury to have those discovered, 
that I will gladly receive any advices of that kind: I will 
consider them carefully, and make the best use of them I 
' can, for the undeceiving of others, as soon as I am convinced 
that I have misled them. 

If men seek for truth in the meekness of Christ, they will 
follow this method in those private and brotherly practices 
recommended to us by our Saviour. But for those that are 
contentious, and do not obey the truth, I shall very little 
regard any opposition that may come from them. I had no 
other design in this work, but first to find out the truth my- 
self, and then to help others to find it out. If I succeed to 
any degree in this design, I will bless God for it: and if I fail 
in it, I wiU bear it with the humility and patience that be- 
comes me. But as soon as I see a l^etter work of this kind, 



xii 



PREFACE. 



I shall be among the first of those who shall recommend that, 
and disparage this. 

There is no part of this whole work, in which I have la- 
boured with more care, and have writ in a more uncommon 
method, than concerning predestination. For, as my small 
reading had carried me further in that controversy than in any 
other whatsoever, both with relation to ancients and'moderns, 
and to the most esteemed books in all the different parties ; 
so I weighed the Article with that impartial care that I 
thought became me ; and have taken a method, which is, for 
aught I know, new, of stating the arguments of all sides with 
so much fairness, that those, who knew my own opinion in 
this point, have owned to me, that they could not discover it 
by any thing that I had written. They were inclined to think 
that I was of another mind than they took me to be, when 
they read my arguings of that side. I have not, in the expla- 
nation of that Article, told what my own opinion was ; yet 
here I think it may be fitting to own, that I follow the doc- 
trine of the Greek church, from which St. Austin departed, 
and formed a new system. After this declaration, I may now 
appeal both to St. Austin's disciples, and to the Calvinists, 
whether I have not stated both their opinions and arguments, 
not only with truth and candour, but with all possible ad- 
vantages. 

One reason, among others, that led me to follow the method 
I have pursued in this controversy, is to offer at the best 
means I can for bringing men to a better understanding of one 
another, and to a mutual forbearance in these matters. This 
is at present the chief point in difference between the Lu- 
therans and the Calvinists. Expedients for bringing them 
to an union in these heads are projects that can never have 
any good effect: men whose opinions are so dififerent, can 
never be brought to an agreement: and the settling on some 
equivocal formularies, will never lay the contention that has 
arisen concerning them : the only possible way of a sound 
and lasting reconciliation is, to possess both parties with a 
sense of the force of the arguments that lie on the other side; 
that they may see they are no way contemptible ; but are such 
as may prevail on wise and good men. Here is a foundation 
laid for charity : and if to this, men would add a just sense of 
the difficulties in their own side, and consider that the ill con- 
sequences drawn from opinions are not to be charged on all 
that hold them, unless they do likewise own those conse- 
quences; then it would be more easy to agree on some gene- 
ral propositions, by which those ill consequences might be 
condemned, and the doctrine in general settled ; leaving it free 
to the men of the different systems to adhere to their own 
opinions ; but withal obliging them to judge charitably and 
favourably of others, and to maintain communion with them, 
notwithstanding that diversity. 



PREFACE. xiii 

If IS a good step even to the bringing men over to an 
opinion, to persuade them to think well of those who hold it. 
TTiis goes as it were half way ; and if it is not possible to 
bring men quite to think as we do^, yet a great deal is done 
both towards that, and towards the heahng those wounds in 
which the' church lies a bleeding, when they come to join in 
the same communion, and in such acts of worship as do agree 
with their different persuasions. For as in the sacrament of 
the eucharist, both Lutherans and Calvinists agreeing in the 
same devotions and acts of worship, a mere point of specula- 
tion concerning the manner in which Christ is present, ought 
not to divide those who agree in every thing else that relates 
to the sacrament : every one may in that be left to the free- 
dom of his own thoughts, since neither opinion has any in- 
fluence on practice, or on any part either of public worship 
or of secret devotion. 

Upon the same account it may be also suggested, that when 
all parties acknowledge that God is the sovereign Lord of the 
universe ; that he governs it by a providence, from which no- 
thing is hid, and to which nothing can resist ; and that he is 
likewise holy and just, true and faithful, merciful and gracious, 
in all his ways ; those who agree about all this, should not 
differ, though they cannot fall into the same methods of re- 
conciling these together. And if they do all agree to bless 
God for all the good that they either do or receive, and to 
accuse themselves for all the ill that they either do or suffer : 
if they agree that they ought to be humble, and to mistrust 
their own strength, to pray earnestly to God for assistance, 
and to depend on him, to trust to him, and likewise to em- 
ploy their own faculties with all possible care and diligence, 
in the cleansing their hearts, and governing their words and 
actions ; here the great truths of both sides are safe ; every ^ 
thing that has an influence on practice is agreed on ; though 
neither side can meet in the same ways of joining all these 
together. 

In the church of Rome the diff*erence is really the same 
between St. Austin's disciples and the followers of Molina ; 
and yet, how much soever they may differ and dispute in the 
schools, their worship being the same, they do all join in it. 
We of this church are very happy in this respect ; we have 
all along been much divided, and once almost broken to pieces, 
while we disputed concerning these matters : but now we are 
much happier; for though we know one another's opinions, 
we live not only united in the same worship, but in great 
friendship and love with those of other persuasions. And the 
boldness of some among us, who have reflected in sermons, or 
otherwise, on those who hold Calvin^s system, has been much 
blamed, and often censured by those who, though they hold 
the same opinions with them, yet are both more charitable in 
their thoughts, and more discreet in their expressions. 

b 



xiv 



PREFACE. 



But till the Lutherans abate of their rigidit)^ m censuring 
the opinions of the Calvinists^ as charging God with all those 
blasphemous consequences that they think follow the doctrine 
of absolute decrees ; and till the Calvinists^ in Holland, Swit- 
zerland, and Geneva, abate also of theirs, in charging the 
others as enemies to the grace of God, and as guilty of those 
consequences that they think follow the doctrine of conditionate 
decrees, it is not possible to see . that much wished for agree- 
ment come to any good effect. 

He who believes that an ill consequence is justly drawn 
from any opinion, is in the right, when he is by that deter- 
mined against it. But because he thinks he sees that the 
consequence is clear, and cannot be avoided; he ought not for 
that to judge so ill of those who hold the opinion, but declare 
at the same time, that they abhor the consequence; that they 
prevaricate in that declaration ; and that they both see the 
consequence, and own it ; though for decency^s sake they dis- 
claim it. He ought rather to think, that either they do not 
see the consequence, but satisfy themselves with some of those 
distinctions, with Avhich it is avoided ; or, that though they 
do see it, yet they look on that only as an objection, which 
indeed they cannot well answer. They may think that a point 
of doctrine may be proved by such convincing arguments, 
that they may be bound to believe it, though there lie objec- 
tions against it which they cannot avoid, and consequences 
seem to follow on it which they abhor, and are sure cannot be 
true, though they cannot clear the matter so well as they wish 
they could do. In that case, when a man is inclined by strong 
arguments to an opinion, against which he sees difficulties 
which he cannot resolve, he ought either to suspend his assent; 
or, if he sees a superiority of argument of one side, he may 
be determined by that, though he cannot satisfy even himself 
in the objections that are against it : in that case he ought to 
reflect on the weakness and defects of his faculties, which can- 
not rise up to full and coniprehensive ideas of things, especially 
in that which relates to the attributes of God, and to his coun- 
sels or acts. If men can be brought once to apprehend this 
rightly, it may make propositions for peace and union hopeful 
and practicable ; and till they are brought to this, all such 
propositions may well be laid aside ; for men's minds are not 
yet prepared for that which can only reconcile this difference, 
and heal this breach. 

I shall conclude this Preface with a reply, that a very emi- 
nent divine among the Lutherans in Germany made to me, 
when I was pressing this matter of union \vith the Calvinists 
upon him, with all the topics with which I could urge it, as 
necessary upon many accounts, and more particularly with 
relation to the present state of affairs. He said, he wondered 
much to see a divine of the church of England press that so 
much on him, when we, notmthstanding the danger we were 



PREFACE. 



XV 



then in (it was in the year 1686)^ could not agree our differ- 
ences. They differed about important matters^ concerning the 
attributes of God^ and his providence; concerning the guilt of 
sin^ whether it was to be charged on God^ or on the sinner ; 
and whether men ought to make good use of their faculties^ 
or if they ought to trust entirely to an irresistible grace ? 
These were matters of great moment : but^ he said^ we in 
England differed only about forms of government and worship^ 
and about things that were of their own nature indifferent; 
and yet we had been quarrelling about these for above an hun- 
dred years ; and we were not yet grown wiser by all the mis- 
chief that this had done us^ and by the imminent danger we 
were then in. He concluded, Let the church of England heal 
her own breaches, and then all the rest of the reformed churches 
will with great respect admit of her mediation to heal theirs. 
I will not presume to tell how I answered this : but I pray 
God to enlighten and direct all men, that they may consider 
well how it ought to be answered. 



xvii 



ARTICULI RELIGIONIS 

Anno 1562. 

The Articles of our Church were at the same time prepared 
both in Latin and Enghsh ; so that both are equally authenti- 
cal : it is therefore proper to give them here in Latin, since 
the English of them is only inserted in the following work. 
This is the more necessary, because many of the collations, 
set down at the end of the introduction, relate to the Latin 
text. 

ARTICULI de quibus convenit inter Archiepiscopos et Episco- 
pos utriusque Provmcice, et Clerum Universum in Synodoy 
Londini, Anno 1562. secundum computationem Ecclesice An- 
glicance, ad tollendam opinionum dissentionem, et consensum 
in vera Religione firmandum. Editi Authoritate serenissimce 
Regince, Londini, apud Johannem Day, 1571. 

I. De fide in sacro-sanctam Trinitatem, 

UNUS est vivus et verus Deus, aeternus, incorporeus, im- 
partibilis, impassibilis, immensee potentiee, sapientise ac boni- 
tatis, creator et conservator omnium, tum visibilium, turn 
invisibiUum. Et in unitate hujus divinee naturae tres sunt 
personse, ejusdem essentise, potentiee ac eeternitatis. Pater, 
Filius, et Spiritus sanctus. 

II. De verbo, sive Filio Dei, qui verus homo /actus est. 

FILIUS, qui est verbum patris, ab eeterno a patre genitus, 
verus et eeternus Deus, ac patri consubstantialis, in utero 
beatge virginis, ex illius substantia naturam humanam assump- 
sit : ita ut duse naturae, divina et humana, integre atque per- 
fecte in unitate personse fuerint inseparabiliter conjunctee, ex 
quibus est unus Christus, verus Deus et verus homo, qui 
vere passus est, crucifixus, mortuus, et sepultus, ut patrem 
nobis reconciliaret, essetque hostia, non tantum pro culpa 
originis, verum etiam pro omnibus actualibus hominum pec- 
catis. 

III. De descensu Chris ti ad Inferos. 

aUEMADMODUM Christus pro nobis mortuus est, et 
sepultus, ita est etiam credendus ad Inferos descendisse. 



ARTICULI 



IV. De resurrectione Christi, 

CHRISTUS vere a mortuis resurrexit^ suumque corpus 
cum came, ossibus, omnibusque ad integritatem humaiice 
naturae pertinentibus, recepit: cum quibus in coelum ascendit, 
ibique residet, quoad extremo die ad judicandos homines rever- 
surus sit. 

V. De Spiritu sando, 

SPIRITUS sanctus, a patre et filio procedens, ejusdem est 
cum patre et filio essentise, majestatis, et glorige, verus ac eeter- 
nus Deus. 

VI. De divinis Scripturis, quod sufficiant ad salutem, 

SCRIPTURA sacra continet omnia, quse ad salutem sunt 
n^cessaria, ita ut quicquid in ea nec legitur, neque inde 
probari potest, non sit a quoquam exigendum, ut tanquam 
articulus fidei credatur, aut ad salutis necessitatem requiri 
putetur. 

Sacree Scripturse nomine, eos Canonicos libros veteris et 
novi Testamenti intelligimus, de quorum authoritate, in eccle- 
sia nunquam dubitatum est. 

De nominibus et numero librorum sacrce Canonicce Scripturce 
veteris Testamenti. 



Genesis. . 

Exodus. 

Leviticus. 

Numeri, 

Deuteron. 

Josuee. 

Judicum. 

Ruth. 

Prior liber Samuelis. 
Secundus liber Samuelis. 
Prior liber Regum, 
Secundus liber Regum, 



Prior liber Paralipom. 
Secundus liber Paralipom. 
Primus liber Esdrse. 
Secundus liber Esdras. 
Liber Hester. 
Liber Job. 
Psalrai. 
Proverbia. 

Ecclesiastes vel Concionator. 
Cantica Solomonis. 
IV Prophetse Majores. 
XII Prophetse Minores. 



Alios autem libros fat ait Hieronymus) legit quidem Ecclesia, 
ad exempla vitce, et formandos mores : illos tamen ad dog- 
mata confirmanda non adhibet, ut sunt 



Tertius liber Esdree. 
Quartus liber Esdrse. 
Liber Tobiae. 
Liber Judith. 
Reliquum libri Hester. 
Liber Sapientise. 
Liber Jesu filii Sirach. 



Baruch propheta. 

Canticum trium puerorum. 

Historia Susannee. 

De Bel et Dracone. 

Oratio Manassis. 

Prior liber Machabeorum. 

Secundus liber Machabeorum. 



Novi Testamenti omnes libros (ut vulgo recepti sunt) re- 
cipimus, et habemus pro Canonicis. 



RELIGIONIS. 



XIX 



VII. De veteri Testamento. 

TESTAMENTUM vetus novo contrarium non est^ quan- 
doquidem tarn in veteri, quam in novo, per Christum, qui 
unicus est Mediator Dei et hominum, Deus et homo, eeterna 
vita humano generi est proposita. ^uare male sentiunt, qui 
veteres tantum in promissiones temporarias sperasse confin- 
gunt. Quanquam lex a Deo data per Mosen (quoad ceere- 
monias et ritus) Christianos non astringat, neque civilia ejus 
prsecepta in aliqua repubiica necessario recipi debeant, nihil- 
ominus tamen ab obedientia mandatorum (quse moralia vocan- 
tur) nuHus (quantumvis Christianus) est solutus. 

VIII. De tribiis Symbolis. 

SYMBOLA tria, Nicaenum, Athanasii, et quod vulgo 
Apostolorum appellatur, omnino recipienda sunt, et credenda^ 
nam firmissimis Scripturarum testimoniis probari possunt. 

IX. De peccato OTiginali. 

PECCATUM originis non est (ut fabulantur Pelagiani) 
in imitatione Adami situm, sed est vitium, et depravatio na- 
turae, cujuslibet hominis ex Adamo naturaliter propagati : qua 
fit, ut ab originali justitia quam longissime distet, ad malum 
sua natura propendeat, et caro semper adversus spiritum 
concupiscat, unde in unoquoque nascentium, iram Dei atque 
damnationem meretur. Manet etiam in renatis heec naturae 
depravatio. Qua fit, ut afFectus carnis, Graece (jipov-njaa (rapKog, 
(quod alii sapientiam, alii sensum, alii aifectum, ahi studium 
carnis interpretantur,) legi Dei non subjiciatur. Et quan- 
quam renatis et credentibus nulla propter Christum est con- 
demnatio, peccati tamen in sese rationem habere cOncupis- 
centiam, fatetur Apostolus. 

X. De liber arbitrio. 

EA est hominis post lapsum Adee conditio, ut sese natu- 
ralibus suis viribus, et bonis operibus, ad fidem et invoca- 
tionem Dei convertere ac praeparare non possit. Quare 
absque gratia Dei (quae per Christum est) nos praeveniente, 
ut vehmus, et cooperante, dum volumus, ad pietatis opera 
facienda, quae Deo grata sunt et accepta, nihil valemus. 

XI. De hominis justificatione, 

TANTUM propter meritum Domini ac Servatoris nostri 
Jesu Christi, per fidem, non propter opera, et merita nostra, 
justi coram Deo reputamur. Quare sola fide nos justificari 
doctrina est saluberrima, ac consolationis plenissima, ut in 
homilia de justificatione hominis fusius explicatur. 

XII. De bonis operibus. 
BONA opera, quae sunt fructus fidei, et justificatos se- 



XX 



ARTICULI 



quuntur, quanquam peccata nostra expiare, et divini judicii 
severitatem ferre non possunt; Deo tamen grata sunt^ et 
accepta in Christo^ atque ex vera et viva fide necessario pro- 
lluunt, ut plane ex illis^ eeque fides viva cognosci possit^ atque 
arbor ex fructu judicari. 

XIII. De operibus ante justificationem, 

OPERA quse fiunt ante gratiam Christi^ et spiritus ejus 
afflatum, cum ex fide Jesu Christi non prodeant^ minime Dei 
grata sunt, neque gratiam (ut multi vocant) de congruo me- 
rentur. Immo cum non sunt facta ut Deus ilia fieri voluit 
et preecepit, peccati rationem habere non dubitamus. 

XIV. De operibus super erogationis. 

OPERA quae supererogationis appellant, non possunt sine 
arrogantia et impietate prsedicari. Nam illis declarant ho- 
mines, non tantum se Deo reddere, quse tenentur, sed plus 
in ejus gratiam facere, quam deberent, cum aperte Christus 
dicat; Cum feceritis omnia queecunque prsecepta sunt vobis^ 
dicite^ Servi inutile s sumus. 

XV. De Christo, qui solus est sine peccato. 

CHRISTUS in nostree naturae veritate, per omnia similis 
factus est nobis, excepto peccato, a quo prorsus erat immu- 
nis, tum in carne, tum in spiritu. Venit ut agnus, absque 
macula, qui mundi peccata per immolationem sui seme! factam 
tolleret, et peccatum (ut inquit Johannes) in eo non erat : sed 
nos reliqui etiam baptizati, et in Christo regenerati, in multis 
tamen offbndimus omnes. Et si dixerimus, quod peccatum 
non habemus, nos ipsos seducimus, et Veritas in nobis non 
est. 

XVI. De peccato post Baptismum. 

NON omne peccatum mortale post Baptismum voluntarie 
perpetratum, est peccatum in Spiritum sanctum, et irremissi- 
bile. Proinde lapsis a Baptismo in peccata, locus poenitentise 
non est negandus. Post acceptum Spiritum sanctum possu- 
mus a gratia data recedere, atque peccare, denuoque per gra- 
tiam Dei resurgere, ac resipiscere; ideoque illi damnandi sunt, 
qui se, quamdiu hie vivant, amplius non posse peccare affir- 
mant, aut vere resipiscentibus veniee locum denegant. 

XVII. De prcedestinatione et electione. 

PR^EDESTINATIO ad vitam, est ceternum Dei proposi- 
tum, quo ante jacta mundi fundamenta, suo consilio, nobis 
quidem occulto, constanter decrevit, eos quos in Christo elegit 
ex hominum genere, a maledicto et exitio liberare, atque (ut 
vasa in honorem efficta) per Christum, ad cEternam salutem 
adducere. Unde qui tarn preeclaro Dei beneficio sunt donati, 
illi spiritu ejus, opportiino tempore operante, secundum pro- 



RELIGIONIS. 



XXI 



positum ejus vocantur, vocationi per gratiam parent, justifi- 
cantur gratis, adoptantur in filios Dei, unigeniti ejus Jesu 
Christi imagini efficiuntur conformes, in bonis operibus sancte 
ambulant, et demum ex Dei misericordia pertingunt ad sem- 
piternam felicitatem. 

Quemadmodiim praedestinationis et electionis nostrse in 
Christo pia consideration dulcis, suavis, et inefFabilis consola- 
tionis plena est vere piis, et his qui sentiunt in se vim spiritus 
Christi, facta carnis, et membra, quae adhuc sunt super terram, 
mortificantem, animumque ad coelestia et superna rapientem ; 
turn quia fidem nostram de aeterna salute consequenda per 
Christum plurimum stabilit atque confirmat, tum quia amorem 
nostrum in Deum vehementer accendit: ita hominibus curiosis, 
carnahbus, et Spiritu Christi destitutis, ob oculos perpetuo 
versari praedestinationis Dei sententiam, perniciosissimum est 
praecipitium, unde illos diabolus protrudit, vel in desperatio- 
nem, vel in aeque perniciosam impurissimae vitae securitatem ; 
deinde promissiones divinas sic amplecti oportet, ut nobis in 
sacris literis generaliter propositae sunt, et Dei voluntas in 
nostris actionibus ea sequenda est, quam in verbo Dei habe- 
mus, diserte revelatam. 

XVIII. De speranda (Bterna salute tantum in nomine Christi, 

SUNT et illi anathematizandi, qui dicere audent unumquem- 
que in lege aut secta quam profitetur esse servandum, modo 
juxta illam et lumen naturae accurate vixerit, cum sacrae literae 
tantum Jesu Christi nomen praedicent, in quo salvos fieri 
homines oporteat. 

XIX. De Ecclesia. 

ECCLESIA Christi visibilis est coetus fidelium, in quo 
verbum Dei purum praedicatur, et sacramenta, quoad ea quae 
necessario exigantur, juxta Christi institutum recte adminis- 
trantur. Sicut erravit ecclesia Hierosolymitana, Alexandrina, 
et Antiochena; ita et erravit Ecclesia Romana, non solum 
quoad agenda, et caeremoniarum ritus, verum in his etiam quae 
credenda sunt. 

XX. De Ecclesia aufhoritate. 

HABET Ecclesia ritus sive ceeremonias statuendi jus, et in 
fidei controversiis authoritatem ; quamvis ecclesiae non licet 
quicquam instituere, quod verbo Dei scripto adversetur, nee 
unum scripturae locum sic exponere potest, ut alteri contra- 
dicat. Quare licet Ecclesia sit divinorum librorum testis et 
conservatrix, attamen ut adversus eos nihil decernere, ita 
praeter illos nihil credendum de necessitate salutis debet ob- 
trudere. 

XXI. De aiithoritate Conciliorum generalimn. 
GENERALIA Concilia sine jussu et voluntate Principum 



xxii 



ARTICULI 



congregari non possunt ; et ubi convenerint, quia ex homini- 
bus constant^ qui non omnes spiritu et verbo Dei reguntur, 
et errare possunt^ et interdum errarunt etiam in his quae ad 
Deum pertinent; ideoque quee ab illis constituuntur^ ut ad 
salutem necessaria^ neque robur habent^ neque authoritatem^ 
nisi ostendi possint e sacris Uteris esse desumpta. 

XXII. De Purgatorio. 

DOCTRINA Romanensium de purgatorio^ de indulgentiis^ 
de veneratione^ et adoratione^ turn imaginum^ turn reliquiarum, 
nec non de invocatione sanctorum^ res est futilis^ inaniter 
conficta^ et nullis Scripturarum testimoniis innititur: immo 
verbo Dei contradicit. 

XXIIL De ministrando in Ecclesia, 

NON licet cuiquam sumere sibi munus publice prsedicandi, 
aut administrandi Sacramenta in Ecclesia^ nisi prius fuerit 
ad haec obeunda legitime vocatus et missus. Atque illos le- 
gitime vocatos et missos existimare debemus^ qui per homines^ 
quibus potestas vocandi ministros, atque mittendi in vineam 
Domini, publice concessa est in Ecclesia, cooptati fuerint, et 
adsciti in hoc opus. 

XXIV. De loquendo in Ecclesia lingua quam populus intelligit. 

LINGUA populo non intellecta, publicas in Ecclesia preces 
peragere, aut Sacramenta administrare, verbo Dei, et primitivse 
Ecclesiee consuetudini plane repugnat. 

XXV. De Sacramentis. 

SACRAMENTA a Christo instituta, non tantum sunt 
notse professionis Christian orum, sed certa queedam potius 
testimonia, et efficacia signa gratise atque bonee in nos volun- 
tatis Dei, per quse invisibiliter ipse in nos operatur, nostram- 
que fidem in se non solum excitat, verum etiam confirmat. 

Duo a Christo Domino nostro in Evangelio instituta sunt 
Sacramenta : scilicet, Baptismus, et Coena Domini. 

Quinque iUa vulgo nominata Sacramenta, scihcet, confir- 
matio, poenitentia, ordo, matrimonium, et extrema unctio, pro 
Sacramentis Evangelicis habenda non sunt, ut quae, partim a 
prava Apostolorum imitatione profluxerunt, partim vitae sta- 
tus sunt in Scripturis quidem probati : sed sacramentorum 
eandem cum Baptismo et Coena Domini rationem non haben- 
tes, ut quse signum aliquod visibile, seu ceeremoniam, a Deo 
institutam, non habeant. 

Sacramenta non in hoc instituta sunt a Christo ut specta- 
rentur, aut circumferrentur, sed ut rite ilhs uteremur, et in his 
duntaxat qui digne percipiunt salutarem habent eiFectum : 
Qui vero indigne percipiunt, damnationem (ut inquit Paulus) 
sibi ipsis acquirunt. 



RELIGIONIS. 



xxiii 



XXVJ. De vi institutionum divinarum, quod earn non tollat 
malitia Ministrorum. 

QUAMVIS in Ecclesia visibili^ bonis mali semper sunt 
admixti^ atque interdum ministerio A'erbi et Sacramentorum 
admin is trationi praesint; tamen cum non suo^ sed Christi 
nomine agant, ejus que mandato et authoritate ministrent^ 
illorum ministerio uti licet^ cum in verbo Dei audiendo^ tum 
in Sacramentis percipiendis. Neque per illorum malitiam 
efFectus institutorum Christi tollitur, aut gratia donorum Dei 
minuitur^ quoad eos qui fide et rite sibi oblata percipiunt^ quas 
propter institutionem Christi et promissionem efficacia sunt, 
licet per malos administrentur. 

Ad Ecclesies tamen disciphnam pertinet, ut in malos minis- 
tros inquiratur, accusenturque ab his, qui eorum flagitia nove- 
rint, atque tandem justo convicti judicio deponantur. 

XXVII. De Baptismo. 

BAPTISMUS non est tantum professionis signum, ac 
discriminis nota, qua Cliristiani a non Christianis discer- 
nantur, sed etiam est signum regenerationis per quod, tan- 
quam per instrumentum, recte baptismum suscipientes, Ec- 
clesiae inseruntur, promissiones de remissione peccatorum, 
atque adoptione nostra in filios Dei per Spiritum sanctum 
visibiliter obsignantur, fides confirmatur, et vi di^Tinee invoca- 
tionis gratia augetur. 

Baptismus parv^ulorum omnino in Ecclesia retinendus est, 
ut qui cum Christi institutione optime congruat. 

XXVIII. De Coena Domini. 

CCENA Domini non est tantum signum mutuce benevolen- 
tise Christianorum inter sese, verum potius est Sacramentum 
nostree per mortem Christi redemptionis. 

Atque adeo, rite, digne, et cum fide sumentibus, panis quem 
frangimus est communicatio corporis Christi : similiter pocu- 
lum benedictionis est communicatio sanguinis Christi. 

Panis et vini tran subs tan tiatio in Eucharistia ex sacris 
Uteris probari non potest. Sed apertis Scripturse verbis ad- 
versatur, Sacramenti naturam evertit, et multarum supersti- 
tionum dedit occasionem. 

Corpus Christi datur, accipitur, et manducatur in Coena, 
tantum ccelesti et spnituah ratione. Medium autem, quo 
corpus Christi accipitur et manducatur in Coena, fides est. 

Sacramentum Eucharistise ex institutione Christi non ser- 
vabatur, circumferebatur, elevabatur, nec adorabatur. 

XXIX. De manducatione corporis Christi, et impios illud non 

mandiicare, 

IMPII, et fide viva destituti, Kcet carnaliter et visibiliter 



XXIV 



ARTICULI 



(ut Augustinus loquitur) corporis et sanguinis Christi Sacra- 
mentum dentibus premant, nullo tamen modo Christi parti- 
cipes efficiuntur. Sed potius tantse rei Sacramentum, seu 
Symbolum, ad judicium sibi manducant et bibunt. 

XXX. De utraque specie. 

CALIX Domini laicis non est denegandus^ utraque enim 
pars Dominici Sacramenti^ ex Christi institutione et prse- 
cepto^ omnibus Christianis ex eequo administrari debet. 

XXXI. De unica Christi ohlatione in cruce perfecta, 

OBLATIO Christi semel facta^ perfecta est redemptio_, pro- 
pitiatio et satisfactio pro omnibus peccatis totius mundi, 
tam originahbus^ quam actuahbus ; neque preeter illam uni- 
cam est uUa aha pro peccatis expiatio : unde missarum sa- 
crificia^ quibus vulgo dicebatur^ sacerdotem ofFerre Christum 
in remissionem poense^ aut culpse^ pro vivis et defunctis^ blas- 
phema figmenta sunt, et perniciosee imposturee. 

XXXII. De conjugio Sacerdotum. 

EPISCOPIS, presbyteris, et diaconis nullo mandate divino 
preeceptum est, ut aut coehbatum voveant, aut a matrimonio 
abstineant. Licet igitur etiam illis, ut ceeteris omnibus Chris- 
tianis, ubi hoc ad pietatem magis facere judicaverint, pro sue 
arbitratu matrimonium contrahere. 

XXXIII. De eoccommunicatis vitandis, 

QUI per publicam Ecclesise denunciationem rite ab unitate 
Ecclesise prsecisus est, et excommunicatus, is ab uni versa fide- 
lium multitudine (donee per poenitentiam pubhce reconciliatus 
fuerit arbitrio judicis competentis) habendus est tanquam 
ethnicus et pubhcanus. 

XXXIV. De traditionibus Ecclesiasticis^iOQt omu 

TRADITIONES atque ceeremonias easdem, non omnino 
necessarium est esse ubique, aut prorsus consimiles. Nam ut 
variee semper fuerunt, et mutari jDossunt, pro regionum, tem- 
porum, et morum diversitate, modo nihil contra verbum Dei 
instituatur. 

Traditiones, et ceeremonias ecclesiasticas, quae cum verbo 
Dei non pugnant, et sunt authoritate publica institutse atque 
probatee, quisquis privato consilio volens, et data opera, pub- 
hce violaverit, is ut qui peccat in publicum ordinem Ecclesise, 
quique leedit authoritatem Magistratus, et qui infirmorum 
fratrum conscientias vulnerat, publice, ut ceeteri timeant, argu- 
endus est. 

Qusehbet Ecclesia particularis, sive nationalis, authoritatem 
habet instituendi, mutandi, aut abrogandi ceeremonias, aut ritus 
ecclesiasticos, humana tantum authoritate institutes, modo 
omnia ad eedificationem fiant. 



RELIGIONIS. 



XXV 



XXXV. De Homiliis. 

TOMUS secundus Homiliarum^ quamin singulos titulos 
huic articulo subjunximus, continet piani et salutarem doctri- 
nam, et his temporibus necessariam^ non minus quam prior 
tomus Homiliarum, quae editse sunt tempore Edwardi sexti : 
Itaque eas in Ecclesiis per ministros diligenter, et clare^ ut a 
populo intelligi possint^ recitandas esse judicavimus. 

De nominibus Homiliarum, 

Of the right Use of the Church. I God's Word, 
Against peril of Idolatry. \ Of Alms-doing. 

Of repairing and keeping clean of Of the Nativity of Christ. 



Churches, 
Of good Works. 
Firsts of Fasting. 
Against Gluttony and Drunken^ 
ness. 

Against Excess in Apparel. 
Of Prayer. 

Of the place and time of Prayer. 

That common Prayers and Sa' 
craments ought to be minister- 
ed in a known Tongue. 

Of the reverent Estimation of\ 



Of the Passion of Christ. 
Of the Resurrection of Christ. 
Of the worthy receiving of the 
Sacrament of the Body and 
Blood of Christ. 
Of the Gifts of the Holy Ghost. 
Of the Rogation- Days, 
Of the state of Matrimony, 
Of Repentance. .q 
Ag ainst Idleness. ^ ^- ^^'^ ■ 
Against Rebellion,' -^i" 



XXXVI. De Episcoporum et Mmistrorum consecratione. 

LIBELLUS de consecratione Archiepiscoporum^ et Epi- 
scoporum^ et de ordinatione Presbyterorura et Diaconorum, 
editus nuper temporibus Edwardi VI. et authoritate Parlia- 
menti illis ipsis temporibus confirmatus^ omnia ad ejusmodi 
consecrationem et ordinationem necessaria continet, et nihil 
habet, quod ex se sit, aut superstitiosum, aut impium : itaque 
quicunque juxta ritus illius libri consecrati aut ordinati sunt, 
ab anno secundo preedicti regis Edwardi, usque ad hoc tempus, 
aut in posterum juxta eosdem ritus consecrabuntur, aut ordina- 
buntur, rite atque ordine, atque legitime statuimus esse, et fore 
consecratos et ordinatos. 

XXXVII. De civilibus Magistratibus. ^t^iijit^, 

REGIA Majestas in hoc Anglise regno, ac cseteris ejus 
dominiis, summam habet potestatem, ad quam omnium sta- 
tuum hujus regni, sive illi ecclesiastici sint, sive civiles, in 
omnibus causis, suprema gubernatio pertinet, et nulH externse 
jurisdictioni est subjecta, nec esse debet. 

Gum Regiee Majestati summam gubernatio nem tribuimus, 
quibus titulis inteUigimus animos, quorundam calumniatorum 
ofFendi, non damus Regibus nostris, aut verbi Dei, aut Sacra- 
mentorum administrationem, quod etiam Injunctiones ab Ehza- 
betha Regina nostra, nuper editse, apertissime testantur : sed 
earn tantum preerogativam, quam in sacris Scripturis a Deo 



xxvi 



ARTICULI RELIGIONIS. 



ipso, omnibus piis Principibus, videmus semper fuisse attri- 
butam : hoc est, ut omn6s status atque ordines fidei suae a 
Deo commissos, sive illi ecclesiastici sint, sive civiles, in 
officio contineant, et contumaces ac delinquentes gladio civili 
coerceant. 

Romanus pontifex nullam habet juris dictionem in hoc 
regno Angliae. 

Leges regni possunt Christianos, propter capitaha et gra- 
via crimina, morte punire. 

Christianis hcet, ex mandato magistratus, arma portare, et 
justa bella administrare. 

XXXVni. De illicita bonorum communicatione, 

FACULTATES et bona Christianorum non sunt com- 
munia, quoad jus et possessionem, (ut quidam Anabaptistee 
falso jactant,) debet tamen quisque de his quee possidet, pro 
facultatum ratione, pauperibus eleemosynas benigne distri- 
buere. 

XXXIX. Dejurejurando. 

QUEMADMODUM juramentum vanum et temerarium 
a Domino nostro Jesu Christo, et Apostolo ejus Jacobo, 
Christianis hominibus interdictum esse fatemur: ita Chris- 
tianorum rehgionem minime prohibere censemus, quin ju- 
bente magistratu in causa fidei et charitatis jurare hceat, 
modo id fiat juxta Prophetse doctrinam, in justitia, in judi- 
cio^ et veritate. 

Confirmatio Articulorum, 

HIC liber antedictorum Articulorum jam denuo approba- 
tus est, per assensum et consensum Serenissimee Reginee Eli- 
zabethee Dominss nostrse, Dei gratia Anglise, Franciee, et Hi- 
bernise Reginss, defensoris fidei, &c. retinendus, et per totum 
regnum Angliee exequendus. Qui Articuli et lecti sunt, et 
denuo confirmati subscriptione D. Archiepiscopi et Episco- 
porum superioris domus, et totius Cleri inferioris domus_, in 
Convocatione, Anno Domini 1571. 



XXVll 



CONTENTS. 



Introduction, page 1. 

Heresies gave the rise to larger 
Articles, ib. 

A form of doctrine settled by the 
apostles, 2. 

Bishops sent round them a decla- 
ration of their faith, ib. 

These were afterwards enlarged, 
3. 

This done at the council of Nice, 
ib. 

Many wild sects at the beginning 

of the Reformation, 4. 
And many complying papists put 

them on framing this collection. 

The Articles set out at first by 

the king's authority, 7- 
A question whether they are only 

Articles of peace or doctrine, 

ib. 

They bind the consciences of the 

clergy, ib. 
The laity only bound to peace by 

them, ib. 
The subscription to them imports 

an assent to them, and not 

only an acquiescing in them', 

9. 

But the Articles may have dif- 
ferent senses ; and if the words 
will bear them, there is no pre- 
varication in subscribing them 
so, 10. 

This illustrated in the third Ar- 
ticle^ ib. 

The various readings of the Arti- 
cles collated with the MSS., 
11. 

An account of those various read- 
ings, 17. 



ARTICLE I, 

That there is a God, proved by 
the consent of mankind, 19. 

Obj. 1. Some nations do not be- 
lieve a Deitv. This is answer- 
ed, 20. 

Obj. 2. It is not the same belief 
among them all. This is an- 
swered, 21. 

The visible world proves a Deitv, 
ib. 

Time nor number cannot be eter- 
nal nor infinite, 22. 

Moral arguments to prove that the 
world had a beginning, 23. 

Such a regular frame could not be 
fortuitous, 24. 

Objection from the production of 
insects answered, ib. 

Argument from miracles well at- 
tested, 25. 

Argument from the idea of God 
examined, ib. 

God is eternal, and necessarily 
exists, 26. 

The unity of the Deity, 27. 

God is without body, 28. 

Outward manifestations only to 
declare his presence and autho- 
rity, 29. 

No successive acts in God, 30. 

Question concerning God's im- 
manent acts, ib. 

God has no passions, 31. 

Phrases in scripture of these ex- 
plained, ib. 

Some thoughts concerning the 
power and wisdom of God, 32. • 

True ideas of the goodness of God, 
33. 

Of creation and annihilation, 35. 



xxviii 



CONTENTS. 



Of the providence of God, 36. 
Objections against it answered, ib. 
Whether God does immediately 

produce all things, 38. 
Thought and liberty not proper 

to matter, 39. 
Whether beasts think, or are only 

machines, 40. 
How bodies and spirits are united, 

ib. 

The doctrine of the Trinity, 42. 

Whether revealed in the Old Tes- 
tament, or not, 43. 

The doctrine stated, ib. 

Argument from the form of Bap- 
tism, 44. 

Other arguments for it, 45. 

This was received in the first ages 
of Christianity, 47- 

Some attempt to the stating true 
ideas of God, 48. 

ART. II. 

Christ, how the Son of God, 51. 

Argument from the beginning of 
St. John's Gospel, 52. 

Reflections on the state of the 
world at that time, 53. 

Arguments from the Epistle to 
the Philippians, 54. 

Other arguments complicated, 56. 

Argument from adoration due to 
him, 57. 

The silence of the Jews proves 
this was not then thought to 
be idolatry by them, 58. 

Argument from the Epistle to the 
Hebrews, 59. 

God and man in Christ made one 
person, 61. 

An account of Nestorius's doc- 
trine, 63. 

Christ was to us an expiatory sa- 
crifice, 65. 

An account of expiatory sacrifices, 
ib. 

The agonies of Christ explained, 
67. 

ART. III. 

Ruffin first published this in the 
Creed, 69. 

Several senses put on this Arti- 
cle, 70. 

A local descent into hell, ib. 

What may be the true sense of 
the Article, 72. 



ART. IV. 

The proof of Christ's resurrec- 
tion, 73. 

The Jews in that time did not 

disprove it, 75. 
Several proofs of the incredibility 

of a forgery in this matter, 

ib. 

The nature and proof of a mira- 
cle, 77. 

What must be ascribed to good or 
evil spirits, ib. 

The apostles could not be im- 
posed on, 78. 

Nor could thev have imposed on 
the world, 79. 

Of Christ's ascension, 80. 

Curiosity in these matters taxed, 
ib. 

The authority with which Christ 
is now vested, 82. 

ART. V. 

The senses of the word. Holy 
Ghost, 84. 

It stands oft for a person, ib. 

Curiosities to be avoided about 
procession, 85. 

The Holy Ghost is truly God, 87- 
ART. VI. 

The controversy about oral tra- 
dition, 92. 

That was soon corrupted, 93. 

Guarded against by revelation, 
94. 

Tradition corrupted among the 
Jews, ib. 

The scripture appealed to by 
Christ and the apostles, 95. 

What is well proved from scrip- 
ture, 97. 

Objections from the darkness of 
scripture answered, ib. 

No sure guard against error, nor 
against sin, 99. 

The proof of the canon of the 
scripture, 100. 

Particularly of the New Testa- 
ment, 101. 

These books were early received, 
105. 

The canon of the Old Testament 
proved, ib. 

Concerning the Pentateuch, IO7. 

Objections against the Old Tes- 
tament answered, 108. 



CONTENTS. 



xxix 



Concerning the various readings, 
109. 

The nature and degrees of in- 
spiration, 110. 

Concerning the historical parts of 
scripture, 111. 

Concerning the reasonings in 
scripture, 132. 

Of the Apocryphal books, 1 13. 
ART. VII. 

No difference between the Old 
and New Testament, 116. 

Proofs in the Old Testament of 
the Messias, 117. 

In the prophets; chiefly in Da- 
niel, 121. 

The proofs all summed up, ib. 

Objections of the Jews answered, 
122. 

The hopes of another life in the 
Old Testament, 124. 

Our Saviour proved the resurrec- 
tion from the words to Moses, 

^125. 

Expiation of sin in the old dis- 
pensation, 126. 

Sins then expiated by the blood of 
Christ, 127. 

Of the rites and ceremonies among 
the Jews, 128. 

Of their judiciary laws, 129. 

Of the moral law, 130. 

The principles of morality, 131 . 

Of idolatry, ib. 

Concerning the Sabbath, 132. 

Of the second table, 133. 

Of not coveting what is our neigh- 
bour's, 134. 

ART. VIII. 

Concerning the Creed of Athana- 
sius, 135. 

And the condemning clauses in it, 
136. 

Of the Apostles' Creed, 137. 
ART. IX. 

Different opinions concerning ori- 
ginal sin, 140. 

All men liable to death by it, ib. 

A corruption spread through the 
whole race of Adam, 141. 

Of the state of innocence, 143. 

Of the effects of Adam's fall, 144. 

God's justice vindicated, 145. 

Of the imputation of Adam's sin, 
ib. 



St. Austin's doctrine in this point, 
146. 

This is opposed by many others, 
148. 

Both sides pretend their doctrines 

agree with the Article, 150. 
ART. X. 
The true notion of liberty, 152. 
The feebleness of our present 

state, 154. 
Inward assistances promised in the 

new covenant, 155. 
The effect that these have on 

men, 156. 
Concerning preventing - grace. 

Of its being efficacious or univer- 
sal, 158. 

ART. XI. 

Concerning justification, 160. 

Concerning faith, 162 

The difference between the church 
of England and the church of 
Rome in this point, 1 64. 

The conditions upon which men 
are justified, 168. 

The use to be made of this doc- 
trine, 169. 

ART. XII. 

The necessity of holiness, 170. 

Concerning merit, 172. 

Of the defects of good works, 
ib. 

ART. XIII. 

Actions in themselves good, yet 
may be sins in him who does 
them, 174. 

Of the seventh chapter to the Ro- 
mans, 175. 

This is not a total incapacity, 
176. 

ART. XIV. 

Of the great extent of our duty, 
177. 

No counsels of perfection, 178. 
Many duties which do not bind 

at all times, 179. 
It is not possible for man to su- 

pererogate, 180. 
Objections against this answered 

ib. 

The steps by which that doctrine 
prevailed, 182. 

ART. XV. 
Christ's spotless holiness, 184. 



XXX 



CONTENTS. 



Of the imperfections of the best 
of men, 185. 

ART. XVI. 
Concerning mortal and venial sin^ 

187. 

Of the sin against the Holy Ghost, 
188. 

Of the pardon of sin after baptism, 
189. 

That as God forgives, the church 
ought also to forgive, ib. 

Concerning apostacy, and sin unto 
death, 191. 

ART. XVII. 

The state of the question, 193. 

The doctrine of the supralapsarians 
and sublapsarians, 194. 

The doctrine of the remonstrants 
and the Socinians, 195. 

This is a controversy that arises 
out of natural religion, ib. 

The history of this controversy 
both in ancient and modern 
times, 196. 

The arguments of the supralap- 
sarians, 204. 

The arguments of the sublapsa- 
rians, 212. 

The arguments of the remon- 
strants, 213. 

They affirm a certain prescience, 
217. 

The Socinians* plea, 221. 
General reflections on the whole 

matter, ib. 
The advantages and disadvantages 

of both sides, and the faults of 

both, 223. 
In what both do agree, 224. 
The sense of the Article, 225. 
The cautions added to it, 226. 
Passages in the Liturgy explained, 

227. 

ART. XVIIL 

Philosophers thought men might 
be saved in all religions, 228. 

So do the Mahometans, ib. 

None are saved but by Christ, 
229. 

Whether some may not be saved 

by him, who never heard of 

him, 230. 
None are in covenant with God, 

but through the knowledge of 

Christ, 231. 



But for others, we cannot judge 
of the extent of the mercies of 
God, 231. 

Curiosity is to be restrained, ib. 
ART. XIX. 

We ought not to believe that any 
are infallible, without good au- 
thority, 234. 

Just prejudices against some who 
pretend to it, 235. 

No miracles brought to prove this, 
236. 

Proofs brought from scripture, 
238. 

Things to be supposed previous 

to these, ib. 
A circle is not to be admitted, 

239. 

The notes given of the true church, 
ib. 

These are examined, 240. 

And whether they do agree to the 

church of Rome, 241. 
The truth of doctrine must be first 

settled, ib. 
A society that has a true baptism, 

is a true church, 242. 
Sacraments are not annulled by 

every corruption, 244. 
We own the baptism and orders 

given in the church of Rome, 

ib. 

And yet justify our separating 

from them, 245. 
Obj ections against pri vate j udging, 

ib. 

Our reasons are given us for that 

end, 246. 
Our minds are free as our wills 

are, 247- 
The church is still visible, but not 

infallible, 248. 
Of the pope's infallibility, 250. 
That was not pretended to in the 

first ages, 251. 
The dignity of sees rose from the 

cities, ib. 
Popes have fallen into heresy, ib. 
Their ambition and forgeries, 252. 
Their cruelty, ib. 
The power of deposing princes 

claimed by them as given them 

by God, 254. 
This was not a corruption only of 

discipline, but of doctrine, 255 



CONTENTS. 



xxxi 



Arguments for the pope's infal- 
libility, 256. 

No foundation for it in the New 
Testament, 257. 

St. Peter never claimed it, 258. 

Christ's words to him explained, 
259. 

Of the keys of the kingdom of 

heaven, ib. 
Of binding and loosing, 260. 

ART. XX. 
Of church-power in rituals, 263. 
The practice of the Jewish church, 
264. 

Changes in these sometimes ne- 
cessary, 265. 

The practice of the Apostles, 266. 

Subjects must obey in lawful 
things, 267. 

But superiors must not impose 
too much, ib. 

The church has authority, though 
not infallible, 268. 

Great respect due to her decisions, 
269. 

But no absolute submission, ib. 
The church is the depository of 

the scriptures, 270. 
The church of Rome run in a 

circle, ib. 

ART. XXI. 

Councils cannot be called, but by 
the consent of princes, 272. 

The first were called by the Ro- 
man emperors, ib. 

Afterwards the popes called them, 
273. 

Then some councils thought on 
methods to fix their meeting, 

What makes a council to be ge- 
neral, 275. 

What numbers are necessary, ib. 

How must they be cited, ib. 

No rules given in scripture con- 
cerning their constitution, 275. 

Nazianzen's complaints of coun- 
cils, 276. 

Councils have been contrary to 
one another, ib. 

Disorders and intrigues in coun- 
cils, ib. 

They judge not by inspiration, 
277. 



The churches may examine their 
proceedings, and judge of them, 
277. . 

Concerning the pope's bull con- 
firming them, ib. 

They have an authority, but not 
absolute, ib. 

Nor do they need the pope's bulls, 
ib. 

The several churches know their 

traditions best, 278. 
The fathers do argue for the truth 

of the decisions, but not from 

their authority, 279. 
No prospect of another general 

council, ib. 
Popes are jealous of them, ib. 
And the world expects little from 

them, ib. 
Concerning the words, ' Tell the 

church,' 28a 
How the church is the pillar and 

ground of truth, ib. 
Christ's promise, ' I am with you 

alway, even to the end of the 

world,' 281. 
Of that, ' It seemed good to the 

Holy Ghost, and to us,' ib. 
Some general councils have erred, 

282. 

ART. XXII. 

The doctrine of purgatory, 285. 
Sins once pardoned are not punish- 
ed, 286. 

Unless with chastisements in this 

life, 287. 
No state of satisfaction after death, 

288. 

No mention made of that in scrip- 
ture, 289. 

But it is plain to the contrary, 
ib. 

Different opinions among the an- 
cients, ib. 

The original of purgatory, 291. 

A passage in Maccabees consider- 
ed, ib. 

A passage in the Epistle to the 
Corinthians considered, 293. 

The progress of the belief of pur- 
gatory, 294. 

Prayers for the dead among the 
ancients, ib. 

Endowments for redeeming out of 
purgatory, 296. 



xxxii 



CONTENTS. 



Whether these ought to be sacred, 
or not, 297. 

The doctrine of pardons and in- 
dulgences, 298. 

It is only the excusing from pe- 
nance, 300. 

No foundation for it in scripture, 
ib. 

General rules concerning idolatry, 
301. 

Of the idolatry of heathens, 302. 
Laws given to the Jews against 
it, ib. 

The expostulations of the pro- 
phets, 303. 

Concerning the golden calf, 304. 

And the calves at Dan and Bethel, 
ib. 

The apostles opposed all idolatry, 
305. 

St. Paul at Athens, and to the 
Romans, 306. 

The sense of the primitive fathers 
upon it, 307. 

The first use of images among 
Christians, ib. 

Pictures in churches for instruc- 
tion, 309. 

Were afterwards worshipped, ib. 

Contests about that, ib. 

Images of the Deity and Trinity, 
310. 

On what the worship of images 

terminates, 31 1. 
The due worship settled by the 

council at Trent, 312. 
Images consecrated, and how, 

313. 

Arguments for worshipping them 

answered, 314. 
Arguments against the use or 

worship of images, ib. 
The worship of relics, 315. 
The progress of superstition, 316. 
A due regard to the bodies of 

martyrs, ib. 
No warrant for this in scripture, 

317. 

Hezekiah broke the brazen ser- 
pent, ib. 

The memorable passage concern- 
ing the body of St. Poly carp, 
ib. 

Fables and forgeries prevailed, 
318. 



The souls of the martyrs believed 
to hover about their tombs, 
319. 

Nothing of this kind objected to 

the first Christians, 320. 
Disputes between Vigil an tins and 

St. Jerome, ib. 
No invocation of saints in the^ 

Old Testament, 322. d 
The invocating angels condemned!' 

in the New Testament, 323. ^ 
No saints invocated, Christ only, 

ib. 

No mention of this in the three 
first ages, 324. 

In the fourth, martyrs were invo- 
cated, 325. 

The progress that this made, 326. 

Scandalous offices in the churcli 
of Rome, ib. 

Arguments against this invoca- 
tion, 327. 

An apology for those who begati 
it, ib. 

The scandal given by it, 329. 1 

Arguments for it answered, 330. 

Whether the saints see all thing.^ 
in God, ib. 

This no part of the communioa 
of saints, 331. 

Prayers ought to be directed only 
to God, ib. 

Revealed religion designed to de- 
liver the world from idolatry, 
332. _ -:-:x3- 3iH ill 

ART. XXIII. 

A succession of pastors ought to 
be in the church, 333. 

This was settled by the Apostles, 
334. 

And must continue to the end of 
the world, ib. 

It was settled in the first age of 
the church, 335. 

The danger of men's taking to 
themselves this authority with- 
out a due vocation, 336. 

The difference between means of 
salvation, and precepts for or- 
der's sake, ib. 

What is lawful authority, 337- 

What may be done upon extra- 
ordinary occasions, 338. 

Necessitv is above rules of order, 
ib. 



CONTENTS. 



xxxiii 



The high priests in our Saviour's 

time, 339. 
Baptism by women, 340. 

ART. XXIV. 

The chief end of worshipping 
God, 341. 

The practice of the Jews, 342. 

Rules given by the Apostles, ib. 

The practice of the church, 343. 

Arguments for worship in an un- 
known tongue answered, 344. 

ART. XXV. 

Difference between sacraments 
and rites, 347* 

Sacraments do not imprint a cha- 
racter, ib. 

But are not mere ceremonies, 
349. 

What is necessary to constitute a 

sacrament, ib. 
That applied to baptism, 350. 
And to the eucharist, 351. 
No mention of seven sacraments 

before Peter L )mbard, ib. 
Confirmation, no sacrament, ib. 
How practised among us, 352. 
The use of chrism in it is new, 

353. 

Oil early used in Christian rituals, 
ib. 

Bishops only consecrated the 

chrism, 354. 
In the Greek church presbyters 

applied it, ib. 
This used in the western church, 

but condemned by the popes, 

ib. 

Disputes concerning confirmation, 
355. 

Concerning penance, ib. 
The true notion of repentance, 
356. 

Confession not the matter of a 

sacrament, 357* 
The use of confession, ib. 
The priest's pardon ministerial, 

358. 

And restrained within bounds, 
360. 

Auricular confession not neces- 
sary, 361. 

Not commanded in the New Tes- 
tament, ib. 



The beginnings of it in the 
church, 362. 

Many canons about penance, 363. 

Confession forbid at Constanti- 
nople. 

The ancient discipline slackened, 
364. 

Confession may be advised, but 
not commanded, 365. 

The good and bad effects it may 
have, ib. 

Of contrition and attrition, 366. 

The ill effects of the doctrine of 
attrition, 367. 

Of doing the penance or satisfac- 
tion, 368. 

Concerning sorrow for sin, ib. 

Of the ill effects of hasty absolu- 
tion, 369. 

Of fasting and prayer, ib. 

Of the form, ' I absolve thee,' 370. 

Of holy orders, 371. 

Of the ancient form of ordina- 
tions, 372. 

Of delivering the vessel, 373. 

Orders no sacrament, ib. 

Whether bishops and priests are 
of the same order, 374. 

Of marriage, ib. 

It can be no sacrament, 375. 

Intention not necessary, ib. 

How marriage is called a mystery 
or sacrament, 376. 

Marriage dissolved by adultery, 

377. . 

The practice of the church in this 

matter, 378. 
Of extreme unction, ib. 
St. James's words explained, 379. 
Oil much used in ancient rituals, 

381. 

Pope Innocent's Epistle consi- 
dered, ib. 

Anointing used in order to reco- 
very, 383. 

Afterwards as the sacrament of 
the dying, ib. 

The sacraments are to be used, 
384. 

And to be received worthily, ib. 

ART. XXVI. 

Sacraments are not effectual as 

prayers are, 386. 
Of the doctrine of intention, 388. 



xxxiv 



CONTENTS. 



The ill consequences of it, 388. 
Of a just severity in discipline^ 
389. 

Particularly towards the clergy, 
390. 

ART. XXVII. 

Concerning St. John's Baptism, 
301. 

The Jews used baptism, ib. 
The Christian baptism, 392. 
The difference between it and 

St. John s, 393. 
The necessity of baptism, 394. 
It is a precept but not a mean of 

salvation, ib. 
Baptism unites us to the church, 

395. 

It also saves us, ib. 
St. Peter's words explained, 396. 
St. Austin's doctrine of baptism, 
ib. 

Baptism is a federal stipulation, 
397. 

In what sense it was of more va- 
lue to preach than to baptize, 
398. 

Of infant baptism, ib. 

It is grounded on the law of na- 
ture, 399. 

And the law of Moses, and war- 
ranted in the New Testament, 
ib. 

In what sense children can be 

holy, 400. 
It is also very expedient, 401 . 

ART. XXVIII. 

The change made in this Article 
in queen Elizabeth's time, 402. 

The explanation of our doctrine, 
403. 

Of the rituals in the passover, ib. 
Of the words, ' This is my body,' 
404. 

And, ' This cup is the new testa- 
ment in my blood/ 405. 

Of the horror the Jews had at 
blood, ib. 

In what sense only the disciples 
could understand our Saviour's 
words, 406. 

The discourse (John vi.) explain- 
ed, 407- 

It can only be understood spiri- 
tually, 408. 



Bold figures much understood in 

the East, 409. 
A plain thing needs no great 

proof, 410. 
Of unworthy receivers, and the 

effect of that sin, 411. 
Of the effects of worthy receiving, 

412. 

Of federal symbols, ib. 

Of the communion of the body 

and blood of Christ, 413. 
Of the like phrases in scripture, 

414. 

Of our sense of the phrase real 

presence, ib. 
Transubstantiationexplained,415. 
Of the words of consecration, 416. 
Of the consequences of transub- 

stantiation, 418. , 
The grounds upon which it was 

believed, 419. 
This is contrary to the testimony 

of all our faculties, both sense 

and reason, ib. 
We can be sure of nothing, if our 

senses do deceive us, 420. 
The objection from believing 

mysteries, answered, 421. 
The end of all miracles consider- 
ed, 422. 

Our doctrine of a mystical pre- 
sence is confessed by those of 
the church of Rome, 423. 

St. Austin's rule about figures, ib. 

Presumptions concerning the be- 
lief of the ancients in this mat- 
ter, 424. 

They had not that philosophy 
which this doctrine has forced 
on the church of Rome, ib. 

This was not objected by hea- 
thens, 427. 

No heresies or disputes arose upon 
this, as they did on all other 
points, ib. 

Many new rituals unknown to 
them, have sprung out of this 
doctrine, 428. 

In particular, the adoring the sa- 
crament, 429. 

Prayers in the masses of the 
saints inconsistent with it, ib. 

They believed the elements were 
bread and wine after consecra- 
tion, ib. 



CONTENTS. 



XXXV 



Many authorities brought for 
this, 430. 

Eutychians said, Christ's humani- 
ty was swallowed of his divi- 
nity, 431. 

The fathers argue against this 
from the doctrine of the eu- 
charist, ib. 

The force of that argument ex- 
plained, 432. 

The fathers say our bodies are 
nourished by the sacrament, 
433. 

They call it the type, sign, and 
figure, of the body and blood of 
Christ, 434. 

The prayer of consecration calls 
it so, 436. 

That compared with the prayer 
in the Missal, ib. 

The progress of the doctrine of 
the corporal presence, 437. 

Reflection on the ages in which 
it grew, ib. 

The occasion on which it was ad- 
vanced in the eastern church, 
439. 

Paschase Radbert taught it first, 
440. 

But many wrote against him, ib. 
Afterwards Berengarius opposed 
it, 442. 

The schoolmen descanted on it, 
443. 

Philosophy was corrupted to sup- 
port it, ib. 

Concerning consubstantiation, 
444. 

It is an opinion that may be borne 

with, ib. 
The adoration of the eucharist is 

idolatry, 445. 
The plea against that considered, 

ib. 

Christ is not to be worshipped, 
though present, 447. 

Concerning reserving the sacra- 
ment, ib. 

Concerning the elevation of it, 
448. 

ART. XXIX. 

The wicked do not receive Christ, 
450. 



The doctrine of the fathers in 

this point, 451. 
More particularly St. Austin's, 

ib. 

ART. XXX. 

The chalice was given to all, 
452. 

Not to the disciples as priests, 
453. 

The breaking of bread explained, 
ib. 

Sacraments must be given accord- 
ing to the institution, ib. 

No arguments from ill conse- 
quences to be admitted, unless 
in cases of necessity, 454. 

Concomitance a new notion, ib. 

Universal practice for giving the 
chalice, 455. 

The case of the Aquarii, ib. 

The first beginning of taking 
away the cup, 456. 

The decree of the council of Con- 
stance, 457. 

ART. XXXI. 

The term sacrifice of a large sig- 
nification, 459. 

The primitive Christians denied 
that they had, any sacrifices, ib. 

The eucharist has no virtue, but 
as it is a communion, 460. 

Strictly speaking there is only 
one Priest and one Sacrifice in 
the Christian religion, 461. 

The fathers did not think the 
eucharist was a propitiatory sa- 
crifice, 463. 

But call it a sacrifice in a larger 
sense, ib. 

Masses without a communion not 
known then, 464. 

None might be at mass, who did 
not communicate, ib. 

The importance of the contro- 
versies concerning the eucha- 
rist, 465. 

ART. XXII. 

No divine law against a married 
clergy, 467. 

Neither in the Old or New Tes- 
tament, but the contrary, 468. 



XXXVl 



CONTENTS. 



The church has not power to 
make a perpetual law against 
it, 470. 

The ill consequences of such a 
law, ib. 

No such law in the first ages^ 
471. 

When the laws for the celibate 

began, 472. 
The practice of the church not 

uniform in it, ib. 
The progress of these laws in 

England, ib. 
The good and the bad of celibate 

balanced, 473. 
It is not lawful to make vows in 

this matter, 474. 
Nor do they bind when made, 

475. 

Oaths ill made are worse to be 
kept, ib. 

ART. XXXIII. 

A temper to be observed in 

church-discipline, 477* 
The necessity of keeping it up, 

ib. 

Extremes in this to be avoided, 
478. 

Concerning the delivering any to 

Satan, 479. 
The importance of an anathema, 

480. 

Of the effect of church-censures, 
ib. 

What it is when they are wrong 
applied, 481. 

The causeless jealousy of church- 
power, ib. 

How the laity was once taken 
into the exercise of it, 482. 

The pastors of the church have 
authority, ib. 

Defects in this no just cause of 
separation, 484. 

All these brought in by popery, 
ib. 

A correction of them intended at 
the Reformation, ib. 

ART. XXXIV. 

The obligation to obey canons 
and laws, 485. 



The great sin of schism and dis- 
obedience, 486. 

The true notion of scandal, 487. 

The fear of giving scandal no 
warrant to break established 
laws, 488. 

Human laws are not unalterable, 
ib. 

The respect due to ancient ca- 
nons, ib. 

The corruptions of the canon 
law, 489. 

Great varieties in rituals, 490. 

Every church is a complete body> 
ib. 

ART. XXXV. 

The occasion of compiling the 

Homilies, 491. 
We are not bound to every thing 

in them, 492. 
But only to the doctrine, ib. 
This illustrated in the charge of 

idolatry, ib. 
What is meant by their being 

necessary for those times, ib. 

ART. XXXVI. 

The occasion of this Article, 494. 
An explanation of the words, 

* Receive ye the Holy Ghost,* 

495. 

ART. XXXVII. 

Queen Elizabeth's injunction 
concerning the supremacy, 497. 

The pope's universal jurisdic- 
tion not warranted by any of 
the laws of Christ, 498. 

Nor acknowledged in the first 
ages, 499. 

Begun on the occasion of the 
Arian controversy, 500. 

Contested in many places, ib. 

The progress that it made, 501. 

The patriarchal authority found- 
ed on the division of the Ro- 
- man empire, sunk with it, 502. 

The power exercised by the kings 
of Judah in religious matters, 
ib. 

That is founded on scriptures, 
503. 



CONTENTS. 



XXX Vll 



Practised in all ages, 503. 
And particularly in England, 
504. 

Methods used by popish princes 
to keep the ecclesiastical au- 
thority under the civil, 505. 

The temporal power is over all 
persons, ib. 

And in all causes, ib. 

The importance of the tevm head, 
507. 

The necessity of capital punish- 
ments, ib. 

The measure of these, 508. 

The lawfulness of war, 509. 

Our Saviour's words explained;, 
510. 

In what cases war is just, 511. 
^Warranted by the laws of God, 
ib. 



How a subject may serve in an 
unlawful war, 51 L tiv 

ART. xxxvinr 

Concerning property and charity, 
513. 

The proportion of charity to the 
poor, 414. 

ART. XXXIX. 

The lawfulness of oaths proved, 
515. 

From natural religion and the 

scriptures, ib. 
The form of swearing among the 

Jews, 516. 
Our Saviour's words and St, 

James's against all swearing 

explained, 517- 
When oaths may be lawfully 

taken, 518. 



.lYZXX „T 



Ji 

: : ^ 

you ^mtmlioh sifi ^£fini93iioO 

mil vai* Ksriw bi 

ro 

« i. ■! • 



Mi 



AN 

EXPOSITION 



ARTICLES 

OF 

THE CHURCH OF ENGLAND. 



of hoii) proimce^g aitir tl^e Indole Cleargie, in t!)e Confiocattxin 
l^oltlm at London m t\)t ^taxt oi our %ovtit 1562, ac^ 

corlltng to tje Computation of tl)t Cj^urcf) of Englandc;, for tje 
aboitfing of ti)e J^i^erilitiejg of (©pinion^, antr for stMi^i)^ 
ing of ConiSent touching true S^eligion. ^ut ioxt^ ti)t 
(i^mtn*^ ^ut][)oritie. 

The title of these articles leads me to consider^ Ist^ The 
time, the occasion,, and the design of compiling them. 2dly, 
the authority that is stamped upon them both by church 
and state, and the obligation that lies upon all of our com- 
munion to assent to them, and more particularly the im- 
portance of the subscription to which the clergy are obhged. 
As to the first, it may seem somewhat strange to see such a 
collection of tenets made the standard of the doctrine of a 
church that is deservedly valued by reason of her moderation: 
this seems to be a departing from the simphcity of the first 
ages, which yet we pretend to set up for a pattern. Among 
them, the owning the behef of the creeds then received was 
thought sufficient : and, when some heresies had occasioned 
a great enlargement to be made in the creeds, the third gene- 
ral council thought fit to set a bar against all farther ad- 
ditions; and yet aU. those creeds, one of which goes far 
beyond the Ephesine standard, make but one article of the 
thirty-nine of which this book consists. Many of these do 
also relate to subtile and abstruse points, in which it is not 
easy to form a clear judgment ; and much less can it be con- 
venient to impose so great a collection of tenets upon a 
whole church, to excommunicate such as affirm any of them 
to be erroneous, and to reject those from the service of 
the church who cannot assent to every one of these. The 
negative Articles of No infaUibihty, No supremacy in the 
pope. No transubstantiation. No purgatory, and the like, give 



2 



THE INTRODUCTION. 



yet a farther colour to exceptions ; since it may seem that it 
was enough not to have mentioned these^ which implies a 
tacit rejecting of them. It may^ therefore^ appear to be too 
rigorous to require a positive condemning of those points: 
for^ a very high degree of certainty is required, to affirm a 
negative proposition. 

In order to the explaining this matter, it is to be con- 
fessed, that, in the beginnings of Christianity, the declaration 
that was required even of a bishop^s faith was conceived 
in very general terms. There was a form settled very early 
Rom. vi. in most churches : this St. Paul, in one place, calls ^ the 
Ti im iv doctrine that was dehvered;' in another place, ^the 

6. vi. 3.^^' form of sound words,' which those, who were fixed by the 
2 Tim. i. apostlcs in particular churches, had received from them. 
These words of his do import a standard, or fiwed formu- 
lary, by which all doctrines were to be examined. Some| 
have inferred from them, that the apostles delivered that 
creed, which goes under their name, every where in the same 
form of words. But there is great reason to doubt of this, 
since the first apologists for Christianity, when they deliver 
a short abstract of the Christian faith, do all vary from one 
another, both as to the order and as to the words them- 
selves; which they would not have done, if the churches 
had all received one settled form from the apostles. They 
would all have used the same words, and neither more noj*^ 
less. It is more probable, that in every church there wai^ 
a form settled, which was delivered to it by some apostle, oj?^ 
companion of the apostles, with some variation : of which atf^ 
this distance of time, considering how defective the history 
of tlie first ages of Christianity is, it is not possible, nor very'^^ 
necessary for us to be able to give a clear account. For 
instance; in the whole extent or neighbourhood of the 
Roman empire, it was at first of great use to have this in 
every Christian's mouth, that our Saviour suffered under 
Pontius Pilate; because this fixed the time, and carried ii^ ^ 
it an appeal to records and evidences, that might then have^ 
been searched for. But if this rehgion went at first far 01 
the eastward, beyond all commerce with the Romans, there * 
is not that reason to think that this should have been a part [ 
of the shortest form of this doctrine ; it being enough that it ^ 
was related in the gospel. These forms of the several^ 
churches were preserved with that sacred respect that was 
due to them: this was esteemed the depositum or trust of a 
church, which was chiefly committed to the keeping of the 
bishop. In the first ages, in which the bishops or clergy of 
the several churches could not meet together in synods to 
examine the doctrine of every new bishop, the method, upon 
which the circumstances of those ages put them, was this: 
the new bishop sent round him, and chiefly to the bishops of 
the more eminent sees, the profession of his faith, according 



THE INTRODUCTION. 



f?6 'iSie ToTO Wdt was fixed in' Hs 'bhutch V'^a^^ the 
neighbouring bishops were satisfied in this^ they held com- 
munion mth him^ and not only owned him for a bishop^ but 
maintained such a commerce with him as the state of that 
time did admit of. 

But as some heresies sprung up^ ther^^ere enlargements^ 
made in several churches, for the condemning those^, and for 
excluding such as held them^ from their communion. The 
council of Nice examined many of those creeds, and out of 
them they put their creed in a fuller form. The addition 
made by the council of Constantinople was put into the- -'^""'^^^ 
creeds of some particular churches, several years before that m .ml'i: i 
council met. So that though it received its authority froni ;^ -'.y^/J^ 
that council, yet they rather confirmed an article which they J[ 
found in the creeds of some churches, than made a new one. 
It had been an invaluable blessing, if the Christian religion 
had been kept in its first simphcity. The council of Ephe- 
sus took care that the creed, by which men profess their 
Christianity, should receive no new additions, but be fixed 
according to the Constantinopolitan standard; yet they made 
decrees in points of faith, and the following councils went on 
in their steps, adding still new decrees, with anathematisms 
against the contrary doctrines; and declaring the assertors of 
them to be under an anathema^ that is^ under a very heavy 
curse of being totally excluded from their communion, and 
even from the communion of Jesus Christ. And whereas 
the new bishops had formerly only declared their faith, they 
were then required, besides that, to declare, that they re- 
ceived such councils^, and rejected such doctrines, together 
with such as favoured them; who were sometimes mentioned 
by name. This increased daily. We have a full account of 
the special declaration that a bishop was obliged to make, in 
the first canon of that which passed for the fourth council of 
Carthage. But while, by reason of new emergencies, this 
was swelling to a vast bulk^ general and more imphcit formu- 
laries came to be used^ the bishops declaring that they 
received and would observe all the decrees and traditions 
of holy councils and fathers. And the papacy coming after- 
wards to carry every thing before it, a formal oath, that had 
many loose and indefinite words in it, which were very large 
and comprehensive, was added to all the declarations that 
had been formerly estabhshed. The enlargements of creeds 
were at first occasioned by the prevarications of heretics; 
who having put senses favouring their opinions^ to the 
simpler terms in which the first creeds were proposed, there- 
fore it was thought necessary to add more express words. 
And this was absolutely necessary as to some points; for it 
being necessary to shew that the Christian religion did not 
bring in that idolatry which it condemned in heathens, it was 
also necessary to state this matter so, that it should appear 

B 2 



4 



THE INTRODUCTION. 



that they worshipped no creature; but that the Person to 
whom all agreed to pay divine adoration was truly God : and 
it being found that an equivocation was used in all other 
words except that of the same substance, they judged it 
necessary to fix on it^, besides some other words that they at 
first brought in^ but which were afterwards corrupted by the 
glosses that were put on them. At all times it is very neces- 
sary to free the Christian religion from the imputations of 
idolatry; but this was never so necessary^ as when Chris- 
tianity was engaged in such a struggle with paganism : and 
since the main article then in dispute with the heathens was 
idolatry, and the lawfulness of worshipping any besides the 
great and eternal God, it was of the last importance to the 
Christian cause, to take care that the heathens might have 
no reason to believe that they worshipped a creature. There 
was therefore just reason given to secure this main point, and 
to put an end to equivocation, by estabhshing a term, which, 
by the confession of all parties, did not admit of any. It had 
been a great blessing to the church, if a stop had been put 
here; and that those nice descantings, that were afterwards 
so much pursued, had been more effectually discouraged than 
they were. But men ever were and ever will be men. Fac- 
tions were formed and interests were set up. Heretics had 
shewed so much dissimulation when they were low, and so 
much cruelty when they prevailed, that it was thought neces- 
sary to secure the church from the disturbances that they 
might give them: and thus it grew to be a rule to enlarge 
the doctrines and decisions of the church. So that in stating 
the doctrines of this church so copiously, our reformers 
followed a method that had been used in a course of many 
ages. 

There were, besides this common practice, two particular 
circumstances in that time, that made this seem to be the 
more necessary. One was, that at the breaking out of that 
light, there sprang up with it many impious and extravagant 
sects, which broke out into most violent excesses. This was 
no extraordinary thing, for we find the like happened upon 
the first spreading of the gospel ; many detestable sects 
grew up with it, which tended not a little to the defaming 
of Christianity, and the obstructing its progress. I shall not 
examine what influence evil spirits might have both in the 
one and the other : but one visible occasion of it was, that by 
the first preaching of the gospel, as also upon the opening the 
reformation, an inquiry into the matters of religion being then 
the subject of men^s studies and discourses, many men of 
warm and ill-governed imaginations, presuming on their own 
talents, and being desirous to signalize themselves, and to 
have a name in the world, went beyond their depth in study, 
without the necessary degrees of knowledge, and the yet more 
necessary dispositions of mind for arriving at a right under- 



THE INTRODUCTION. 



5 



staridilig^ of divine matters. This happening soon after the 
reformation was first set on foot^ those^ whose corruptions 
were struck at by it^ and who both hated and persecuted it 
on that account^ did not fail to lay hold of and to improve 
the advantage which these sects gave them. They said^ that 
the sectaries had only spoke out what the rest thought ; and 
at last they held to this_, that all sects were the natural con- 
sequences of the reformation^ and of shaking off the doctrine 
of the infallibility of the church. To stop those calumnies, the 
Protestants of Germany prepared that confession of their 
faith which they offered to the diet at Augsburg^* and which 
carries its name. And, after their example, all the other 
churches, which separated from the Roman communion, 
published the confessions of their faith, both to declare their 
doctrine for the instruction of their own members, and for 
isovering them from the slanders of their adversaries. 

Another reason that the first reformers had for their de- 
scending into so many particulars, and for all these nega- 
tives that are in their confessions, was this : they had 
smarted long under the tyranny of popery, and so they had 
reason to secure themselves from it, and from all those who 
were leavened with it. They here in England had seen 
how many had complied with every alteration both in king 
Henry and king Edward^s reign, who not only declared 
themselves to have been all the while papists, but became 
bloody persecutors in queen Mary^s reign : therefore it was 
necessary to keep all such out of their body, that they 
might not secretly undermine and betray it. Now since 
the church of Rome owns all that is positive in our doctrine, 
there could be no discrimination made, but by condemning 
the most important of those additions, that they have 

* This celebrated confession was dictated by Luther, and drawn up by Melanc- 
thon. It contains twenty-eight chapters. Twenty-one of which set forth the 
opinions of the Protestants ; the other seven the errors and superstitions of the 
church of Rome. Dr. Mosheim gives the following most interesting account of 
the presentation of this confession, and of its effect upon the diet : — 

' Charles V. arrived at Augsburg the 15th of June, 1530, and on the twentieth 
day of the same month the diet was opened. As it was unanimously agreed, 
that the affairs of religion should be brought upon the carpet before the delibera- 
tions relating to the intended war with the Turks, the Protestant members of 
this great assembly received from the emperor a formal permission to present to 
the diet, on the 25th of June, an account of their religious principles and tenets. 
In consequence of this Christian Bayer, chancellor of Saxony, read, in the Ger- 
man language, in presence of the emperor and the assembled princes, the famous 
confession which has been since distinguished by the denomination of the Confes- 
sion of Augsburg. The princes heard it with the deepest attention and recollection 
of mind ; it confirmed some in the principles they had embraced, surprised others, 
and many, who, before this time, had little or no idea of the religious sentiments of 
Luther, were now not only convinced of their innocence, but were, moreover, de- 
lighted with their purity and simplicity. The copies of this confession, which after 
being read, were delivered to the emperor, were signed and subscribed by John, 
elector of Saxony, by four princes of the empire, George, marquis of Brandenburg, 
Ernest, duke of Lunenburg, Philip, landgrave of Hesse, Wolfgang, prince of An- 
halt, and by tne imperial cities of Nuremberg and Reutlingen, who all thereby so- 
lemnly declared their assent to the doctrines contained in it.' — See the confession 
of Augsburg, in Appendix A. — [Ed.] 



6 



THE INTRODUCTION. 



brought into the Christian reUgion, in express words: and 
though in matters of fact^ or in theories of nature^ it is not 
safe to affirm a negative^ because it is seldom possible to 
prove it ; yet the fundamental article^ upon which the whole 
reformation and this our church depends_, is this^ that the 
whole doctrines of the Christian religion are contained in 
the Scripture,, and that therefore we are to admit no article 
as a part of it till it is proved from scripture. This being 
laid down^ and well made out^ it is not at all unreasonable 
to affirm a negative upon an examination of all those places 
of scripture that are brought for any doctrine^, and that 
seem to favour it^ if they are found not at all to support it, 
but to bear a different^ and sometimes a contrary sense, to 
that which is offered to be proved by them. So there is no 
weight in this cavil, which looks plausible to such as cannot 
distinguish common matters from points of faith. This 
may serve in general to justify the largeness and the partir 
cularities of this confession of our faith. There were some 
steps made to it in king Henry^s time, in a large book that 
was then pubHshed under the title of The Necessary Em- 
dition, that was a treatise set forth to instruct the natioii. 
Many of the errors of popery were laid open and con- 
demned in it: but none were obliged to assent to it, or to 
subscribe it. After that, the worship was reformed, as 
being that which pressed most; and in that a foundatiop 
was laid for the articles that came quickly after it. How 
or by whom they were prepared, we do not certainly know ; 
by the remains of that time it appears, that, in the alterations 
that were made, there was great precaution used, such as mat- 
ters of that nature required, questions were framed relating to 
them, these were given about to many bishops and divines, 
who gave in their several answers that were collated and 
examined very maturely : all sides had a free and fair hearing 
before conclusions were made. d 
In the fermentation, that was working over the whole na- 
tion at that time, it was not possible that a thing of that 
nature could have passed by the methods that are more 
necessary in regular times : and therefore they could not be 
offered at first to synods or convocations. The corruptioii,s 
complained of were so beneficial to the whole body of the 
clergy, that it is justly to be wondered at that so great 9, 
number was prevailed with to concur in reforming thenaj: 
but, without a miracle, they could not have been agreed t® 
by the major part. They were prepared, as is most pro- 
bable, by Cranmer and Ridley, and published by the regal 
authority. Not as if our kings had pretended to an authority 
to judge in points of faith, or to decide controversies : but 
as every private man must choose for himself, and beheve 
according to the convictions of his reason and conscience 
(which is to be examined and proved in its proper place), 



THE INTRODUCTION. 



7 



SO every prince or legislative power must give the public 
sanction and authority according to his own persuasion ; this 
makes indeed such a sanction to become a law, but does not 
alter the nature of things, nor oblige the consciences of the 
subjects, unless they come under the same persuasions. 
Such laws have indeed the operation of all other laws ; but 
the doctrines authorized by them have no more truth than 
they had before without any such publication. Thus the 
part that our princes had in the reformation was only this, 
that they, being satisfied with the grounds on which it went, 
received it themselves, and enacted it for their people. 
And this is so plain and just a consequence of that liberty 
which every man has of believing and acting according to 
his own convictions, that when this is well made out, there 
can be no colour to question the other. It was also remark- 
able, that the law, which stood first in Justinian's code, was 
an edict of Theodosius's ; who, finding the Roman empire 
under great distractions by the diversity of opinions in mat- 
ter of religion, did appoint that doctrine to be held which was 
received by Damasus bishop of Rome, and Peter bishop of 
Alexandria; such an edict as that, being put in so con- 
spicuous a part of the law, was a full and soon observed pre- 
cedent for our princes to act according to it. 

The next thing to be examined is the use of the Articles, 
and the importance of the subscriptions of the clergy to 
them. Some have thought that they are only Articles of Union 
and Peace ; that they are a standard of doctrine not to be 
contradicted, or disputed ; that the sons of the church are 
only bound to acquiesce silently to them ; and that the sub- 
scription binds only to a general compromise upon those 
Articles, that so there may be no disputing nor wranghng 
about them. By this means they reckon, that, though a 
man should differ in his opinion from that which appears to 
be the clear sense of any of the Articles; yet he may mth a 
good conscience subscribe them, if the Article appears to him 
to be of such a nature, that, though he thinks it wrong, yet 
it seems not to be of that consequence, but that it may be 
borne with, and not contradicted. I shall not now examine 
whether it were more fit for leaving men to the due freedom 
of their thoughts, that the subscription did run no higher, it 
being in many cases a great hardship to exclude some very 
deserving persons from the service of the church, by re- 
quiring a subscription to so many particulars, concerning 
some of which they are not fully satisfied. I am only now to 
consider what is the importance of the subscriptions now re- 
quired among us, and not what might be reasonably wished 
that it should be. 

As to the laity, and the whole body of the people, cer- 
tainly to them these are only the articles of church-commu- 
nion ; so that every person who does not think that there is 



8 



THE INTRODUCTION. 



some proposition in them that is erroneous to so high a 
degree^ that he cannot hold communion with such as hold it^ 
may and is obhged to continue in our communion : for cer- 
tainly there may be many opinions held in matters of religion, 
which a man may It^lieve to be false^ and yet may esteem 
them to be of so little importance to the chief design of 
religion^ that he may well hold communion with those whom 
he thinks to be so mistaken. Here a necessary distinction is 
to be remembered between articles of faith and articles of 
doctrine : the one are held necessary to salvation, the other 
are only believed to be true ; that is, to be revealed in the 
scriptures, which is a sufficient ground for esteeming them 
true. Articles of faith are doctrines that are so necessary to 
salvation, that without believing them there is not a foederal 
right to the covenant of grace: these are not many, and in 
the establishment of any doctrine for such, it is necessary 
both to prove it from scripture, and to prove its being neces- 
sary to salvation, as a mean settled by the covenant of grace 
in order to it. We ought not indeed to hold communion 
with such as make doctrines, that we believe not to be true, 
to pass for articles of faith ; though we may hold communion 
with such as do think them true, without stamping so high an 
authority upon them. To give one instance of this in an 
undeniable particular. In the days of the apostles there 
were Judaizers of two sorts: some thought the Jewish nation 
was still obliged to observe the Mosaical law; but others 
went farther, and thought that such an observation was 
indispensably necessary to salvation. Both these opinions 
were wrong, but the one was tolerable, and the other was 
intolerable, because it pretended to make that, a necessary 
condition of salvation, which God had not commanded. The 
apostles complied with the Judaizers of the first sort, asr 
1 Cor. ix. ^ they became all things to all men, that so they might gain 
19—23. some' of every sort of men : yet they declared openly against 
the other, and said, that if men were circumcised, or were 
wiUing to come under such a yoke, Christ profited them 
nothing ; and upon that supposition he had died in vain,. 
From this plain precedent we see what a difference we ought 
to make between errors in doctrinal matters, and the imposing 
them as articles of faith. We may live in communion with 
those who hold errors of the one sort, but must not with 
those of the other. This also shews the tyranny of that 
church, which has imposed the belief of every one of her 
doctrines on the consciences of her votaries, under the 
highest pains of anathemas, and as articles of faith. But 
whatever those at Trent did, this church very carefully 
avoided the laying that weight upon even those doctrines 
which she receives as true ; and therefore though she drew 
up a large form of doctrine, yet to all her lay-sons this is only 
a standard of what she teaches, and they are no more to them 



THE INTRODUCTION. 



9 



than articles of cliTirch-communion. The citations that are 
brought from those two great primates^ Laud and Bramhall, 
go no farther than this : they do not seem to relate to the 
clergy that subscribe them, but to the laity and body of the 
people. The people, who do only join in communion with 
us, may well continue to do so, though they may not be fully 
satisfied with every proposition in them : unless they should 
think that they struck against any of the articles, or founda- 
tions of faith ; and, as they truly observe, there is a great 
difference to be observed in this particular between the 
imperious spirit of the church of Rome, and the modest free- 
dom which ours allows. 

But I come, in the next place, to consider what the clergy 
is bound to by their subscriptions. The meaning of every 
subscription is to be taken from the design of the imposer, 
and from the words of the subscription itself. The title of 
the Articles bears, that they were agreed upon in convoca- 
tion, for the avoiding of diversities of Opinions, and for the 
stablishing consent touching true Religion, Where it is 
evident, that a consent in opinion is designed. If we in the 
next place consider the declaration that the church has made 
in the canons, we shall find, that though by the 5 th canon, 
which relates to the whole body of the people, such are 
only declared to be excommunicated ipso facto, who shall 
affirm any of the Articles to be erroneous, or such as he may 
not with a good conscience subscribe to ; yet the 36th canon 
is express for the clergy, requiring them to subscribe willingly, 
and eoo animo ; and acknowledge all and every article to be 
agreeable to the word of God: upon which canon it is that 
the form of the subscription runs in these words, which seem 
expressly to declare a man^s own opinion, and not a bare con- 
sent to an article of peace, or an engagement to silence and 
submission. The statute of the 13th of queen Elizabeth, 
cap. 12, which gives the legal authority to our requiring sub- 
scriptions, in order to a man's being capable of a benefice, 
requires that every clergyman should read the Articles in the 
church, with a declaration of his unfeigned assent to them. 
These things make it appear very plain, that the subscriptions 
of the clergy must be considered as a declaration of their own 
opinion, and not as a bare obligation to silence. There arose 
in king James the First's reign great and warm disputes con- 
cerning the decrees of God, and those other points that were 
settled in Holland by the synod of Dort against the Remon- 
strants ; divines of both sides among us appealed to the 
Articles, and pretended they were favourable to them: for 
though the first appearance of them seems to favour the 
doctrine of absolute decrees, and the irresistibility of grace; 
yet there are many expressions that have another face, and so 
those of the other persuasion pleaded for themselves from 
these. Upon this a royal declaration was set forth, in which, 



10 



THE INTRODUCTION. 



after mention is made of those disputes^ and that the then^fWl 
sides did take the Articles to be for them, order is given for stop- 
ping those disputes for the future; and for shutting them in 
God's promises as they be generally set forth in the holy scrip- 
tures, and the general meaning of the Articles of the Church of 
England, according to them; and that no man thereafter should 
put his own sense or comment to be the meaning of the Article, 
but should take it in the literal and grammatical sense. In 
this there has been such a general acquiescing, that the 
fierceness of these disputes has gone oS, while men have beeil 
left to subscribe the Articles according to their literal and 
grammatical sense. From which two things are to be in- 
ferred : the one is, that the subscription does import an 
assent to the Article; and the other is, that an Article being 
conceived in such general words, that it can admit of different 
literal and grammatical senses, even when the senses given 
are plainly contrary one to another, yet both may subscribe 
the Article with a good conscience, and without any equivo^ 
cation. To make this more sensible, I shall give an instance 
of it in an Article concerning which there is no dispute ajb 
present. 

The third Article concerning Christ^s descent into hell \% 
capable of three different senses, and all three are bot^ 
literal and grammatical. The first is, that Christ descended 
locally into hell, and preached to the spirits there in prison ; 
and this has one great advantage on its side, that those 
who first prepared the Articles in king Edward^s time were 
of this opinion ; for they made it a part of it, by adding in 
the Article those words of St. Peter as the proof or expla- 
nation of it. Now, though that period was left out in queen 
Elizabeth's time, yet, no declaration was made against it ; 
so that this sense was once in possession, and was never ex- 
pressly rejected : besides that, it has great support from the 
authority of many fathers, who understood the descent into 
hell according to this explanation. A second sense, of which 
that Article is capable, is, that hj hell is meant the grave, 
according to the signification of the original word in the 
Hebrew; and this is supported by the words of Christ's 
descending into the lower parts of the earth; as also by 
this, that several creeds, that have this Article, have not 
that of Christ's being buried; and some, that mention his 
burial, have not this of his descent into hell, A third sens]| 
is, that by hell, according to the signification of the Greets 
word, is to be meant the place or region of spirits separate^ 
from their bodies : so that by Christ's descent into hell is 
only to be meant, that his soul was really and entirely dis- 
united from his body, not lying dead in it as in an apoplec- 
tical fit, not hovering about it, but that it was translat^^ 
into the seats of departed souls. All these three sense^ 
differ very much from one another, and yet they are all 



THE INTRODUCTION. 



senses that are literal and grammatical ; so that in which of 
these soever a man conceives the Article, he may subscribe 
jitj and he does no way prevaricate in so doing. If men 
would therefore understand all the other Articles in the 
same largeness, and with the same equity, there would not 
be that occasion given for unjust censure that there has 
been. Where then the Articles are conceived in large and 
general words, and have not more special and restrained 
terms in them, we ought to take that for a sure indication, 
that the church does not intend to tie men up too severely 
to particular opinions, but that she leaves aU to such a liberty 
as is agreeable with the purity of the faith. 

And this seems sufficient to explain the title of the Ar- 
ticles, and the subscriptions that are required of the clergy to 
them. 

The last thing to be settled is the true reading of the 
Articles ; for, there being some small diversity between the 
printed editions and the manuscripts that were signed by 
both houses of convocation, I have desired the assistance 
both of Dr. Green, the present worthy Master of Corpus 
Christi college in Cambridge, and of some of the learned 
Fellows of that body; that they would give themselves the 
trouble ^o collate the printed editions, and their manuscripts, 
with such a scrupulous exactness as becomes a matter of 
this importance : which they were pleased to do very mi- 
nutely. I wiU set down both the collations as they were 
transmitted to me ; beginning with that which I had from 
the FeUows four years ago. oXii ^Qj^i- 

... : . .... .. M at... ,. - - ,..3. s/Ia 

ni too it^i 8J3W bohaq nguoii^ ^woVl ■ io nolisn 
: ^3 sbfifli 8BW noitol-': - ARTICLE III> ' '^'''^ 
3i5Yf brr^ .noiggsagoa ^^-^^ ^^^^ ^j. ^^^^^^ 

into hell. 

These words, said to be left Cljrii^t tiiiti for u^, aut< luajJ 

out, are found in the original hmxzii ; aX^o it to beticliebelJ, 

Articles, signed by the chief tj^at iuent irobn mto j^tll. 

clergy of both provinces, now [" for botfg la^ in tije grafts 

extant in the manuscript li- « till j^ijg v^iSiirrectuiu ; tut 

braries of C. C. C, C, in the ^q^i^ jj^ms ^Separate from fjtjS 

^00^ c«MSynodaUa: but dis- jbolfp,remame^J iMttMir^gmrit^ 

tinguished from the rest with . ^^^^ it,m tfetametr ut pn^on ; 

hnes oj mmmm : which lines j ^^^^ 

plainly appear to have been ^? x. s. \ 

done afterwards, because the " ti)ne pwaci)rt unto tijtm."] 

leaves and lines of the original ,.1^ ,. , 

are exactly numbered at the , . ; 

end; which number ivithout IjjqjJ^ ^iihsyoii ' 
these lines ivere manifestly 
false. 



Ii2 ^rttSTlNTRODUCTION. 



In the original these words 
only are found, Testamentum 
vetus novo contrarium non est^ 
quandoquidem^ ^c. 



The Latin of the original is, 
Et quanquam renatis et cre- 
dentibus nulla propter Chris- 
tum est condemnatio. 

This article is not found in 
the original. 



This is not found. 



This is not found. 



This Article agrees with the 
original; but these words, Wi)t 
ci^md} i^at]^ pohjer to tfecvee iitts 
antr (mmoniess, antf autl^ortto in 
ctmtrober^wjS of fait]^, supposed 
to begin the Article, are not 
found in any part thereof 



In the fourteenth line of this 
Article, immediately after these 
words, (33ut get i^afte not Itfee 
nature ioit!) Baptism antf t^e 
Eorti*£{ Supper) follows, quo- 
modo nec poenitentia^ which, 
being marked underneath with 
minium^ is left out in the 
translation. 



ARTICLE VI. • 
CJe (©Itf Cesitament is not to 
ie rejectetJ ajl if it ioere contrary 
to tje 3^eU3, t)ut to ie tefalnejf. 
dFora^muc!) a^^, &c. ^ '^^^ 
ARTICLE IX. 'mi/ii 
^ntr altt)ou^) tj^ere i& m amf 
tremnation to t^em t^at htlit^t, 
antJ are Ijapti^etr, &c. - -^^rjj-j 
bni QupiB 

article! C^>^^ 

Of Grace, '^^^^bft 
C]^e grace of €f^xist, o^^^^ 

i)un, tfot^, &c. } 

ARTICLE XVI. 

Blasphemy against the 
Ghost, 

Clje ilai^pl^emj) agatn^^t tje 
f^olg <^ljo^t t|en committetr, 
lol^en> &c. 

ARTICLE XIX. 

^11 men are bountr to feeep tl^e 
precept!^ of tl^e moral lalo, al# 
t]^oug5 t!)e lato giben from (^o^^ 
&c. 

ARTICLE XX. 

Of the authority of the church. 

jft not lawful for t^t cl)urd^ 
to ortJatn anp tiding tl^at com 
trarg to ^olJ'iS iuorU^ ioritten, 

ARTICLE XXVI. 

Of the sacraments, 

^acrament£{ ortfatnetr of C]^riiSt, 
&c. 



THE INTRODUCTION. 



13 



This Article agrees with the ARTICLE XXIX. 



dens, corpori suo immortalitatem dedit^ naturam non abstulit, 
humanse enim naturae veritatem (juxta scriptiu'as) perpetuo 
retinet, quam uno et definite loco esse, et non in multa vel 
omnia simul loca diffundi oportet; quum igitur Christus in 
coelum sublatus, ibi usque ad finem saeculi sit permansurus, 
atque inde, non aliunde (ut loquitur Augustinus) venturus 
sit, ad judicandum vivos et mortuos, non debet quisquam 
fidelium, carnis et ejus et sanguinis realem, et corporalem 
(ut loquuntur) presentiam in Eucharistia vel credere vel 
profiteri. These words are marked and scrawled over with 
minium, and the words immediately following (corpus tamen 
Christi datur, accipitur, et manducatur in coena, tantum 
ccelesti et spirituali ratione) are inserted 'in a different hand 
just before them, in a line and a half left void; which plainly 
appears to be done afterwards^ by reason the same hand has 
altered the first number of lines, and, for viginti quatuor, made 
quatuordecim. 



The three last Articles', Hi^. the S9th, Of the Resurrection 
of the Dead; the 40th, that the Souls of men do neither perish 
with their bodies (neque otiosi dormiant is added in the origi- 
nal) ; and the 42d, that all shall not be saved at last, are found 
in the original, distinguished only with a marginal line of 
minium : but the 4lst, Of the Millenarians, is wholly left out. 

The number of Articles does not exactly agree, by reason 
some are inserted, which are found only in king Edward^s 
Ar^if^les^, J)ut none are wanting that are found in the original. 

Corpus Christi Col. Feb, 4th, 1695-6. 

UPON examination we judge these to be all the material 
differences, that are unobserved, between the original manu- 



After I had procured this, I was desirous likewise to have 
the printed editions collated with the second pubhcation of 
the articles in the year 1571 ; in which the convocation 
reviewed those of 1562, and made some smaU alterations : 
and these were very lately procured for me by my reverend 
friend. Dr. Green, which I will set down as he was pleased 
to communicate them to me. 



original, as far as these words, 
(antr JatJ gibcu occa^Sion to 
nmiv jSupcr^titwii^) where fol- 
lows, Christus in coelum ascen- 



Of the Lord's Supper, 
Cf)e Supper nf tje Hortf 
not onl» a ^ign of, &c. 




14 THil INTRODUCTIOi^! 

[Note, MS. /or Manuscript> a/ic? Pr./or Print.] 

^r/. 1. MS. and true God^ and he is everlasting, without 
body. 

ft. and true God, everlasting, without body. 
Art. 2. MS. but also for all actual sins of men. -^r \ k 

Pr. but also for actual sins of men. ° ' 

Art. 3. MS. so also it is to be believed. '^^ ^^{ ^ f r \ K 

Pr. so also is it to be believed. " *^ 

Art. 4. MS. Christ did truly arise again. 

Pr. Christ did truly rise again. 

MS. until he return to judge all men at the last day. 
Pr. until he return to judge men at the last day. 
Art. 6. MS, to be believed as an article of the faith. 
Pr. to be believed as an article of faith. 
MS. requisite as necessary to salvation. 
Pr. requisite or necessary to salvation. 
ilf>S^. in the name of holy scripture. .i^k 
Pr. in the name of the holy scripture, 
MS. but yet doth it not apply. ol .^R 

Pr. but yet doth not apply, 

M^. Baruch. . 

Pr. Baruch the prophet. 

MS, and account them for canonical. 

Pr. and account them canonical. 
Art. 8. MS, by most certain warranties of holy scripture. 

Pr. by most certain warrant of holy scripture. 
Art. 9. MS. but it is the fault. 

Pr.^ but is the fault. 

MS. whereby man is very far gone from his original 

righteousness. 
Pr. whereby man is far gone from original righteous- - 

ness, 

MS. in them that be regenerated. 

Pr. in them that are regenerated, 2 ^ a 

Art, De Gratia, non habetur in MS. v k 

Art. 10. MS. a good wiU and working in us. 

Pr. a good ivill and working with us. 
Art, 14. MS. cannot be taught without arrogancy and im- 
piety. 

Pr. cannot be taught without arrogancy and iniquity. 
MS. we be unprofitable servants. 
Pr. we are unprofitable servants, ^^^^ 
Art, 15. MS. sin only except. 

Pr. sin only excepted, 

MS. to be the Lamb without spot. 

Pr. to be a Lamb without spot. 



THE INTRODUCTION. 



MS. but we the rest^ although baptized^ and born 
again in Christ, yet we all offend. 
: Pr. but all we the rest , although baptized, and if 
bom in Christ, yet offend. 



Art, De Blasphemia in Sp, Sanct, non est in MS. 

Art. 16. MS. wherefore the place for penitence. 

Pr. wherefore the grant of repentance. 
Art. 17. MS. so excellent a benefit of God given unto them, 
be called according. 
Pr. so excellent a benefit of God, be called accord- 
ing. 

MS. as because it doth fervently kindle their love. 
Pr. as because it doth frequently Undle their love. 



Art. Omnes obliganturf ^c. non est in MS. 

Art. 18. MS. to frame his life according to the law and the 
light of nature. 
Pr. to frame his life according to that law, and the 
light of nature. 

Art. 19. MS. congregation of faithfrl men in the which the 
pure Word, 

Pr. congregation of faithful men in which the pure 
Word. 

Art. 20^ MS. the church hath power to decree rites or ce- 
remonies, and authority in controversies of 
faith. And yet. 
These words are not in the original MS. 
M>S. ought it not to enforce any thing. 
Pr. it ought not to enforce any thing. 
A 'K 21. MS. and when they be gathered together (foras- 
much. 

Pr. and when they be gathered (forasmuch. 
Ad. 22. MS. is a fond thing vainly invented. 

Pr. is a fond thing vainly feigned, 
AH, 24. MS. in a tongue not understanded of the people. 

Pr. in a tongue not understood of the people. 
Art. 25. MS. and effectual signs of grace and God^s good- 
will towards us. 
Pr. and effectual signs of grace and God's will to- 
wards us. 
MS. and extream annoyling. 
Pr. and extream unction. 
Art. 26. MS. in their own name, but do minister by Christ^s 
commission and authority. 
Pr. in their own name, but in Chrisfs, and do 
minister by his commission and authority. 



16 



THE INTRODUCTION. 



MS, and in the receiving of the Sacraments. 
Pr. and in the receiving the Sacraments. 
MS. and rightly receive the Sacraments. 
Pr. and rightly do receive the Sacraments. 
Art. 27. MS, from others that be not christned, but is also a 
sign. 

Pr. from others that be not christned, but it is also 
a sign. 

MS, forgiveness of sin_, and of our adoption. 

Pr. forgiveness of sin, of our adoption. 
Art. 28. MS, to have amongst themselves. 

Pr. to have among themselves. partaking 

MS, the bread which we break is a communion of 
the body of Christ. 

Pr. the bread which we break is a partaking of the 
body of Christ, partaking 

MS, and Hkewise the cup of blessing is a commu- 
nion of the blood of Christ. 

Pr. and likewise the cup of blessing is a partaking of 
the blood of Christ. 

MS, or the change of the substance of bread and 
wine into the substance of Christ's body and 
blood cannot be proved by holy writ^ but is 
repugnant. 

Pr. or the change of the substance of bread and wine 
in the supper of the Lord cannot be proved by 
holy writ} but it is repugnant. 

MS, but the mean whereby the body of Christ is 
received. 

Pr. and the mean whereby the body of Christ is re- 
ceived, 

MS. lifted up or worshipped. 
Pr. lifted up and worshipped. 
Art, 31. MS, is the perfect redemption. 

Pr. is that perfect redemption, 
MS. to have remission of pain or guilt were forged 
fables. 

Pr. to have remission of pain and guilt were blas- 
phemous fables. 
Art, 33. MS. that hath authority thereto. 

Pr. that hath authority thereunto. 
Art, 34. MS. diversity of countries^ times^ and men^s man- 
ners. 

Pr. diversity of countries and men's manners, 
MS, and be ordained and appointed by common 
authority. 

Pr. and be ordained and approved by common au- 
thority. 

MS. the consciences of the weak brethren. 
Pr. the consciences of weak brethren. 



THE INTRODUCTION. 17 

A7't. 35. MS, of homilies, the titles whereof ,wftj%ave joined 

under this article, do contain,. 
Pr. of homilies, the several titles whereof we have 

joined under this article, doth contain,: 
MS. wholesome doctrine, and necessary for this 

time, as doth the former book which was 

set forth. 

Pr, wholesome doctrine, necessary for these times, as 
mlt^oth the former book of homilies ivhich were 
set forth. 

MS. and therefore are to be read ki Qtp* churches 
noKiiiri by the ministers^ diligently, plainly, and dis- 

tinctly, that they may be understanded of 
the people. 

Pr. and therefore we judge thean to he read in 
churches by the ministers, diligently and dis- 
tinctly, that they may be understood, of the 
people. %^ - 

MS. ministred m a tongue known, 

Pr. ministred in a known tongue. .--5 

Art. I>i Liihto Precationum, ^c. non est in MS. 

Art, 36. MS. in the time of the most noble K. Edward the 
bwo-^x^ Sixth. 

Pr. in the time of Edward the Sixth, 
MS. superstitious or ungodly. - f 
Pr. superstitious and ungodly. 
Art. 37. MS. whether they be ecclesiastical or not. 
Pr. whether they be ecclesiastical or civil. 
MS. the minds of some slanderous folks to be of- 
fended. 

Pr. The minds of some dangerous Jolksx ^Q; of- 
fended. 

MS. we give not to our princes. 
Pr. ive give not our princes. 
MS. or of sacraments. =q 
Pr. or of the sacraments. 
MS. the injunctions also lately set forth. 
Pr. tJie injunctions also set forth, , 4_ 
MS. and serve in the wars. Y.-trs'fav^h -'^M ,1^8 
Pr. a7id serve in lawful ivars. 
Art. 38. MS. every man oughteth of such things. 
Pr. every man ought of such things. 

Art. 39. Edw, VI. et qui sequuntur, non sunt in MS. 

We tW archbishops and bishops of either province of this realm 
of England, lawfully gathered together in this provincial synod 
holden at London, with continuations and prorogations of the 



IS 



THE INTRODUCTION. 



same^ do receive, profess and acknowledge the xxxviii Articles:^ 
before written in xix pages going before, to contain true and( 
sound doctrine, and do approve and ratify the same by the sub-f 
scription of our hands the xi^*" day of May in the year of our,. 
Lord 15 71;, and in the year of the reign of our sovereign lady 
Elizabeth by the grace ^f God of England, France, and Ireland, 
queen, defender of the faith, &c. the thirteenths^ mmr gsi 



Matthue Cantua^o^ mich m N. Bangor. 
Rob. Winton. Ri. Cicestren. 

Jo. Heref. Thorn. Lincoln. 

Richarde Ely. Wilhelmus Exon. 

Nic. Wigorn. I 
Jo. Sarisburien. amii 
Edm. RofFen. 



From these diversities a great difficulty wiU naturally arise 
about this whole matter. The manuscripts of Corpus Christi 
are without doubt originals. 

The hands of the subscribers are well known ; they belonged 
to archbishop Parker, and were left by him to that coUege, and 
they are signed with a particular care ; for at the end of them 
there is not only a sum of the number of the pages, but of the 
lines in every page. And though this was the work only of 
the convocation of the province of Canterbury ; yet the arch- 
bishop of York, with the bishops of Duresme and Chester, 
subscribed them likewise, and they were also subscribed 
by the whole lower house. But we are not sure that the 
like care was used in the convocation, anno 1571 ; for the 
Articles are only subscribed by the archbishop of Canterbur)^, 
and ten bishops of his province ; nor does the subscription of 
the lower house appear. These Articles were first printed 
in the year 1563, conform to the present impressions which 
are still in use among us. So the alterations were then made 
while the thing was fresh and well known, therefore no fraud 
nor artifice is to be suspected, since some objections would 
have been then made, especially by the great party of the com- 
plying papists, who then continued in the church : they would 
not have failed to have made much use of this, and to have 
taken great advantages from it, if there had been any occasion 
or colour for it ; and yet nothing of this kind was then done. 

One alteration of more importance was made in the year 
1571. Those words of the 20th Article, The church hath power 
to decree rites or ceremonies, and authority in controversies of 
faith, were left out both in the manuscripts, and in the printed 
editions, but were afterwards restored according to the Articles 
printed anno 1563. I cannot find out in what year they were 
again put in the printed copies. They appear in two several 
impressions in queen EhzabetVs time, which are in my hands ; 
it passes commonly that it was done by archbishop Laud ; and 



AN EXPOSITION, &c. 



19 



his enemies laid this upon him among other things, that he A R T. 

had corrupted the doctrine of this church by this addition ; ^- 

but he cleared himself of that, as well he might, and, in a 
speech in the star-chamber, appealed to the original, and 
affirmed these words were in it. 

The true account of this difficulty is this. When the Arti- 
cles were first settled, they were subscribed by both houses 
upon paper; but, that being done, they were afterward ingrossed 
in parchment, and made up in form to remain as records. Now, 
in all such bodies, many alterations are often made after a 
minute or first draught is agreed on, before the matter is 
brought to full perfection ; so these alterations, as most of 
them are small and inconsiderable, were made between the 
time that they were first subscribed, and the last voting of 
them. But the original records, which, if extant, would have 
cleared the whole matter, having been burnt in the fire of 
London, it is not possible to appeal to them ; yet what has 
been proposed may serve, I hope, fully to clear the difficulty. 

I now go to consider the Articles themselves. 



ARTICLE I. 

Of Faith in the Holy Trinity. 

C]^ere but one libms antJ true ^otj, cbtrlaigting;, ItJitljout bolJit, 
part£{ or pa^gioitsi, of mfmite poluer, iuisstiom, anti gool3ue<j!^, t\)t 
mate antr pve^erijtr qI all t\)mQ^ botlj bi^Mt antr inbfsiiijle ; ant< 
m tlje umtp of tljt^ (^oMjea)? ti)m ht ti)xtt l^moixS of one sliii)? 
iStance, poltjev, anU eternity, tl^e dTatljer, t})t ^on, antr tl;e floly 

THE natural order of things required, that the first of all 
articles in religion should be concerning the being and attri- 
butes of God : for all other doctrines arise out of this. But 
the title appropriates this to the holy Trinity ; because that is 
the only part of the Article which peculiarly belongs to the 
Christian religion ; since the rest is founded on the principles 
of natural religion. 

There are six heads to be treated of, in order to the full 
opening of aU that is contained in this Article, 

1. That there is a God. 

2. That there is but one God. 

3. Negatively, That this God hath neither body, parts, nor 
passions. 

c 2 



20 



AN EXPOSITION OF 



A 1^ 1 • 4. Positively^, That he is of infinite power, wisdom, and 
goodness. 

5. That he at first created, and does still preserve all things, 
not only what is material and visible, but also what is spiritual 
and invisible. 

6. The Trinity is here asserted. 

These being all points of the highest consequence, it is very 
necessary to state them as clearly, and to prove them as fully, 
as may be. 

The first is, TJiat there is a God. This is a proposition, 
which in all ages has been so universally received and believed, 
some very few instances being only assigned of such as either 
have denied or doubted of it, that the very consent of so many 
ages and nations, of such different tempers and languages, so 
vastly remote from one another, has been long esteemed a 
good argument, to prove that either there is somewhat in the 
nature of man, that by a secret sort of instinct does dictate this 
to him : or that all mankind has descended from one common 
stock, and that this belief has passed down from the first man 
to all his posterity. If the more polite nations had only received 
this, some might suggest, that wise men had introduced it as 
a mean to govern hum.an society, and to keep it in order : or, 
if only the more barbarous had received this, it might be 
thought to be the effect of their fear, and their ignorance : but, 
since all sorts, as well as all ages, of men have received it, this 
alone goes a great way to assure us of the being of a God. 

To this two things are objected, first. That some nations, 
such as Soldania, Formosa, and some in America, have been 
discovered in these last ages, that seem to acknowledge no 
Deity. Bat to this, two things are to be opposed: 1st, That 
those who first discovered these countries, and have given that 
account of them, did not know them enough, nor understand 
their language so perfectly as was necessary to enable them to 
comprehend all their opinions : and this is the more probable, 
because others, that have writ after them, assure us that they 
are not without all sense of religion, which the first discoverers 
had too hastily affirmed : some prints of religion begin to be 
observed among those of Soldania, though it is certainly one 
of the most degenerated of all nations. But a second answer 
to this is. That those nations, of whom these reports are given 
out, are so extremely sunk from all that is wise or regular, 
great and good in human nature, so rude and untractable, anil 
so incapable of arts and discipline, that if the reports concerning 
them are to be believed, and if that weakens the argument 
from the common consent of mankind of the one hand, it 
strengthens it on another ; while it appears that human nature, 
when it wants this impression, it wants with it all that is great 
or orderly in it, and shews a brutality almost as low and base 
as is that of beasts. Some men are born without some of 
their senses, and others without the use of reason and memory ; 



THE XXXIX ARTICLES. 



21 



and yet those exceptions do not prove that the imperfections A R T. 
of such persons are not irregularities against the common ^_ 
course of things : the monstrousness^ as well as the miseries^ 
of persons so unhappily born tend to recommend more effec- 
tually the perfection of human nature. So, if these nations^ 
which are supposed to be without the belief of a God^ are such 
a low and degenerated piece of human nature, that some have 
doubted whether they are a perfect race of men or not, this 
does not derogate from, but rather confirms, the force of this 
argument, from the general consent of all nations. 

A second exception to this argument is. That men have not 
agreed in the same notions concerning the Deity : some be- 
lieving two gods, a good and a bad, that are in a perpetual 
contest together : others holding a vast number of gods, either 
all equal or subaltern to one another : and some believing 
God to be a corporeal being, and that the sun, moon, and 
stars, and a great many other beings, are gods : since 
then, though all may acknowledge a Deity in general, they are 
yet subdivided into so many different conceits about it, no 
argument can be drawn from this supposed consent, which is 
not so great in reality as it seems to be. But, in answer to 
this, we must observe, that the constant sense of mankind 
agreeing in this, that there is a superior Being that governs 
the world, shews that this fixed persuasion has a deep root, 
though, the weakness of several nations being practised upon 
b}^ designing men, they have in many things corrupted this 
notion of God. That might have arisen from the tradition of 
some true doctrines vitiated in the conveyance. Spirits made 
by God to govern the world by the order and under the direc- 
tion of the Supreme Mind, might easily come to be looked on 
as subordinate deities : some evil and lapsed spirits might in 
a course of some ages pass for evil gods. The apparitions of 
the Deity under some figures might make these figures to be 
adored : and God being considered as the supreme Light, this 
might lead men to worship the sun as his chief vehicle : and 
so by degrees he might pass for the supreme God. Thus it 
is easy to trace up these mistakes to what may justly be sup- 
posed to be their first source and rise. But still the founda- 
tion of them all was a firm belief of a superior nature that 
governed the world. Mankind agreeing in that, an occasion 
was thereby given to bad and designing men to graft upon it 
such other tenets as might feed superstition and idolatry, and 
furnish the managers of those impostures with advantages to 
raise their own authority. But, how various soever the several 
ages and nations of the world may have been as to their more 
special opinions and rites, yet the general idea of a God re- 
mained still unaltered, even amidst all the changes that have 
happened in the particular forms and doctrines of religion. 

Another argument for the being of God is taken from the 
visible world, in which there is a vast variety of beings 



22 



AN EXPOSITION OF 



A u T. curiously framed^ and that seem designed for great and noble 
^- ends. In these we see clear characters of God's eternal power 
and wisdom. And that is thus to be made out. It is certain^ 
that nothing could give being to itself ; so the things which 
we see either had their being from all eternity: or were made 
in time : and either they were from all eternity in the same 
state^ and under the same revolutions of the heavens, as they 
are at present : or they fell into the order and method, in which 
they do now roll, by some happy chance, out of which all the 
beauty and usefulness of the creation did arise. But, if all 
these suppositions are manifestly false, then it "will remain, 
that if things neither were from all eternity as they now are, 
nor fell into their present state by chance, then there is a 
superior Essence that gave them being, and that moulded 
them as we see they now are. The first branch of this, that 
they were not as now they are from all eternity, is to be proved 
by two sorts of arguments ; the one intrinsical, by demon- 
strating this to be impossible ; the other moral, by shewing that 
it is not at all credible. As to the first, it is to be considered, 
that a successive duration made up of parts, which is called time, 
and is measured by a successive rotation of the heavens, cannot 
possibly be eternal. For if there were eternal revolutions of 
Saturn in his course of thirty years, and eternal revolutions 
of days as well as years, of minutes as well as hours, then the 
one must be as infinite as the other ; so that the one must be 
equal to the other, both being infinite 5 and yet the latter are 
some millions of times more than the other, which is impossi- 
ble. Further; of every past duration, as this is true, that 
once it was present ; so this is true, that once it was to come ; 
this being a necessary affection of every thing that exists in 
time : if then all past durations were all once future, or to be, 
then we cannot conceive such a succession of durations eternal, 
since once every one of them was to come. Nor can all this, 
or any part of it, be turned against us, who believe that some 
beings are immortal, and shall never cease to be ; for all those * 
future durations have never actually been, but are still* pro- 
duced of new, and so continued in being. This argument 
may seem to be too subtile, and it will require some attention 
of mind to observe and discover the force of it ; but, after we 
have turned it over and over again, it will be found to be a 
true demonstration. The chief objection that lies against it 
is, that, in the opinion of those who deny that the e are any 
indivisible points of matter, and that believe that matter is 
infinitely divisible, it is not absurd to say, that one infinite is 
more than another t for the smallest crum of matter is infinite, 
as well as the whole globe of the earth : and, therefore, the 
revolutions of Saturn may be infinite, as well as the revolu- 
tions of days, though the one be vastly more numerous than 
the other. But there is this difference betwixt the succession 
of time, and the composition of matter ; that those, who deny 



THE XXXIX ARTICLES. 



23 



indivisibles, say that no one point can be assigned : for, if ART 
points could be assigned or numbered, it is certain that they ^' 
could not be infinite ; for an infinite number seems to be a 
contradiction: but, if the series of mankind were infinite, 
since this is visibly divided into single individuals, as the 
units in that series, then here arises an infinite number com- 
posed of units or individuals that can be assigned. The same 
is to be said of minutes, hours, days, and years : nor can it 
be said with equal reason, that every portion of time is divisi- 
ble to infinity, as well as every parcel of matter. It seems 
evident, that there is a present time ; and that past, present, 
and to come, cannot be said to be true of any thing all at 
once : therefore the objection against the assigning points in 
^matter does not overthrow the truth of this argument. But 
jif it is thought that this is rather a sleight of metaphysics that 
■fentangles one, than a plain and full conviction, let us turn 
^hext to such reasonings as are more obvious, and that are more 
pasily apprehended. 

^ The other moral arguments are more sensible as well as 
^^they are of a more complicated nature ; and proceed thus : 
^iThe history of all nations, of all governments, arts, sciences, 
and even instituted religions, the peopling of nations, the 
^progress of commerce and of colonies, are plain indications 
^6f the novelty of the world ; no sort of trace remaining, by 
"which we can believe it to be ancienter than the books of 
"iVIoses represent it to be. For, though some nations, such 
as the Egyptians and the Chineses, have boasted of a much 
greater antiquity, yet it is plain, we hear of no series of 
history for all those ages ; so that what they had relating to 
them, if it is not wholly a fiction, might have been only in 
'astronomical tables, which may be easily run backwards as 
^ well as forward. The very few ecHpses which Ptolemy could 
^liear of is a remarkable instance of the novelty of history ; 
^since the observing such an extraordinary accident in the 
-'heavens, in so pure an air, where the sun was not only ob- 
, served, but adored, must have been one of the first effects of 
"learning or industry. All these characters of the novelty of 
^^rhe world have been so well considered by Lucretius, and 
' other atheists, that they gave up the point, and thought it 
'e\TLdent that this present frame of things had certainly a 
beginning. 

^ The solution that those men, who found themselves driven 
"from this of the world^s being eternal, have given to this 
difficulty, by saying that all things have run by chance into 
the combinations and channels in which we see nature run, is 
so absurd, that it looks like men who are resolved to believe 
any thing, how absurd soever, rather than to acknowledge 
religion. For what a strange conceit is it, to think that chance 
^ could settle on such a regular and useful frame of things, and 
' continue so fixed and stable in it, and that chance could do so 



24 



AN EXPOSITION OF 



A R T. much at once_, and should do nothing ever since ! The con- 
I- stancy of the celestial motions ; the obliquity of the zodiac^ 
l^y which different seasons are assigned to different climates ; 
the divisions of this globe into sea and land^ into hills and 
vales; the productions of the earthy whether latent^ such as 
mines_, minerals^ and other fossils ; or visible^ such as grass^ grain^ 
herbs^ flowers^ shrubs^ and trees ; the small beginnings_, and 
the curious compositions of them : the variety and curious 
structure of insects ; the disposition of the bodies of perfecter 
animals ; and, above all, the fabric of the body of man, espe- 
cially the curious discoveries that anatomy and microscopes 
have given us ; the strange beginning and progress of those ; 
the wonders that occur in every organ of sense, and the 
amazing structure and use of the brain, are all such things, 
so artificial, and yet so regular, and so exactly shaped and 
fitted for their several uses, that he, who can believe all this 
to be chance, seems to have brought his mind to digest any 
absurdity. 

That all men should resemble one another in the main " 
things, and yet that every man should have a peculiar look, 
voice, and way of writing, is necessary to maintain order and 
distinction in society : by these we know men, if we either 
see them, hear them speak in the dark, or receive any writing 
from them at a distance ; without these, the whole commerce 
of life would be one continued course of mistake and con- 
fusion. This, I say, is such an indication of wisdom, that 
it looks like a violence to nature to think it can be otherwise. 

The only colour, that has supported this monstrous conceit, 
that things arise out of chance, is, that it has long passed cur- 
rent in the world, that great varieties of insects do arise out of 
corrupted matter. They argue, that, if the sun's shining on 
a dunghill can give life to such swarms of curious creatures, 
it is but a little more extraordinary, to think that animals and 
men might have been formed out of well-disposed matter, 
under a peculiar aspect of the heavens. But the exacter ob- 
servations, that have been made in this age by the help of 
glasses, have put an end to this answer, which is the best that 
Lucretius and other atheists found to rest in. It is now fully 
made out, that the production of all insects whatsoever is in 
the way of generation: heat and corruption do only hatch 
those eggs that insects leave to a prodigious quantity every 
where. So that this, which is the only specious thing in the 
whole plea for atheism, is now given up by the universal con- 
sent of all the inquirers into nature. 

And now to bring the force of this long argument to a 
head : If this world was neither from all eternity in the state 
in which it is at present, nor could fall into it by chance or 
accident, then it must follow that it was put into the state in 
which we now see it by a Being of vast power and wisdom. 
This is the great and solid argument on which religion rests ; 



THE XXXIX ARTICLES. 25 



and it receives a vast accession of strength from this^ that we ART. 
plainly see matter has not motion in or of itself : every part ^• 
of it is at quiet till it is put in motion that is not natural to 
it ; for many parts of matter fall into a state of rest and quiet ; 
so that motion must be put in them by some impulse or other. 
Matter^ after it has passed through the highest refinings and 
rectifyings possible, becomes only more capable of motion 
than it was before ; but still it is a passive principle, and must 
be put in motion by some other being. This has appeared so 
necessary even to those who have tried their utmost force to 
make God as little needful as possible in the structure of the 
vmiverse, that they have yet been forced to own, that there 
must have been once a vast motion given to matter by the 
Supreme Mind. 

A third argument for the being of a God is, that, upon some 
great occasions, and before a vast number of witnesses, some 
persons have wrought miracles : that is, they have put nature 
out of its course, by some words or signs, that of themselves 
could not produce those extraordinary effects : and therefore 
such persons were assisted by a power superior to the course 
of nature; and by consequence there is such a Being, and 
that is God. To this the atheists do first say, that we do not 
know the secret virtues that are in nature : the loadstone and 
opium produce wonderful effects : therefore, unless we knew 
the whole extent of nature, we cannot define what is super- 
natural and miraculous, and what is not so. But, though we 
cannot tell how far nature may go, yet of some things we may, 
without hesitation, say, they are beyond natural powers. 
Such were the wonders that Moses wrought in Egypt and in 
the wilderness, by the speaking a few words, or the stretching 
out of a rod. We are sure these could not by any natural 
efficiency produce those wonders. And the like is to be said 
of the miracles of Christ, particularly of his raising the dead 
to hfe again, and of his own resurrection. These we are sure 
did not arise out of natural causes. The next thing atheists 
say to this, is, to dispute the truth of the facts : but of that I 
shall treat in another place, when the authority of revealed 
religion comes to be proved from those facts. All that is ne- 
cessary to be added here, is, that if facts, that are plainly 
supernatural, are proved to have been really done, then here 
is another clear and full argument, to prove a Being superior 
to nature, that can dispose of it at pleasure : and that Being 
must either be God, or some other invisible being that has a 
strength superior to the settled course of nature. And if in- 
visible beings, superior to nature, whether good or bad, are 
once acknowledged, a great step is made to the proof of the 
Supreme Being. 

There is another famed argument taken from the idea of 
God ; which is laid thus : that, because one frames a notion of 
infinite perfection, therefore there must be such a Being, from 



26 



AN EXPOSITION OF 



ART. whom that notion is conveyed to us. This argument is also 
I- managed by other methods^ to give us a demonstration of the 
being of a God. I am unwilHng to say any thing to derogate 
from any argument that is brought to prove this conclusion ; 
but^ when he^ who insists on this^ lays all other arguments 
aside^ or at least slights them as not strong enough to prove 
the pointy this naturally gives jealousy, when all those reasons, 
that had for so many ages been considered as solid proofs, 
are neglected, as if this only could amount to a demonstration. 
But, besides, this is an argument that cannot be oiFered by 
any to another person, for his conviction ; since, if he denies 
that he has any such idea, he is without the reach of the 
argument. And if a man will say that any such idea, which 
he may raise in himself, is only an aggregate that he makes 
of all those perfections, of which he can form a thought, which 
he lays together, separating from them every imperfection 
that he observes to be often mixed with some of those perfec- 
tions : if, I say, a man will affirm this, I do not see that the 
inference from any such thought that he has formed within 
himself, can have any great force to persuade him that there 
is any such Being. Upon the whole, it seems to be fully 
proved, that there is a Being that is superior to matter, and 
that gave both being and order to it, and to all other things. 
This may serve to prove the being of a God. It is fit in the 
next place to consider, with all humble modesty, what thoughts 
we can, or ought to have of the Deity. 

That Supreme Being must have its essence of itself neces- 
sarily and eternally ; for it is impossible that any thing can 
give itself being ; so it must be eternal. And, though eternity 
in a succession of determinate durations was proved to be 
impossible, yet it is certain that something must be eternal ; 
either matter, or a Being superior to it, that has not a dura- 
tion defined by succession, but is a simple essence, and 
eternally was, is, and shall be, the same. There is nothing 
contradictory to itself in this notion : it is indeed above our 
capacity to form a clear thought of it ; but it is plain it must 
be so, and that this is only a defect in our nature and capa- 
city, that we cannot distinctly apprehend that which is so far 
above us. Such a Being must have also necessary existence 
in its notion ; for whatsoever is infinitely perfect must neces- 
sarily exist ; since we plainly perceive that necessary existence 
is a perfection, and that contingent existence is an imperfec- 
tion, which supposes a being that is produced by another, and 
that depends upon it : and, as this superior Being did exist 
from all eternity, so it is impossible, it should cease to be; 
since nothing that once has actually a being can ever cease 
to be, but by an act of a superior Being annihilating it. But 
there being nothing superior to the Deity, it is impossible 
that it should ever cease to be : what was self-existent from 
all eternity, must also be so to all eternity ; and it is as im- 



THE XXXIX ARTICLES. 



possible that a simple essence can annihilate itself^ as that it ^^^'i'- 

can make itself. ]^ 

So much concerning the first and capital article of all re- 
ligion^ the existence and being of a God; which ought not to 
be proved by any authorities from scripture^ unless from the 
recitals that are given in it concerning miracles^ as was 
already hinted at. But as to the authority of such passages 
in scripture^ which affirm that there is a God^ it is to be 
considered, that before we can be bound to submit to them, 
we must believe three propositions antecedent to that ; 
1. That there is a God. 2. That all his words are true. 
3. That these are his words. What, therefore, must be be- 
lieved before we acknowledge the scriptures cannot be proved 
out of them. It is then a strange assertion, to say, that the 
being of a God cannot be proved by the light of nature, but 
must be proved by the scriptures ; since our being assured 
that there is a God is the first principle upon which the au- 
thority of the scriptures depends. 

The second proposition in the Article is. That there is but 
one God. As to this, the common argument, by which it is 
proved, is the order of the world ; from whence it is inferred, 
that there cannot be more gods than one, since, where there 
are more than one, there must happen diversity and confu- 
sion. This is by some thought to be no good reason ; for if 
there are more gods, that is, more beings infinitely perfect, 
they will always think the same thing, and be knit together 
with an entire love. It is true, in things of a moral nature, 
this must so happen: for beings infinitely perfect must ever 
agree. But in physical things, capable of no morahty, as in 
creating the world sooner or later, and the different systems 
of beings, with a thousand other things that have no moral 
goodness in them, different beings infinitely perfect might 
have dififerent thoughts. So this argument seems still of 
great force to prove the unity of the Deity. The other argu- 
ment from reason, to prove the unity of God, is from the 
notion of a Being infinitely perfect. For a superiority over 
aU other beings comes so naturally into the idea of infinite 
perfection, that we cannot separate it from it. A Being 
therefore, that has not all other beings inferior and subordi- 
nate to it, cannot be infinitely perfect ; whence it is evident, 
that there is but one God. But, besides all this, the unity of 
God seems to be so frequently and so plainly asserted in the 
scripture, that we see it was the chief design of the whole Old 
Testament, both of Moses and the prophets, to estabhsh it, 
in opposition to the false opinions of the heathen concerning 
a diversity of gods. This is often repeated in the most 
solemn words, as, *^ Hear, O Israel; the Lord our God is one Deut.vi.4. 

* mn*' ID^nbW r\ysV bWnii?> ' Hear, Israel, Jehovah, our 

God, is one Jehovah.' On this passage the Jews lay great stress; and it is one 



28 



AN EXPOSITION OF 



ART. God.', It is tlie first of the Ten Commandments^ ^Thou 
^- slialt have no other gods but me/ And all things in heaven 
lla^li^. ^^cl earth are often said to be made by this one God. Nega- 
8. tive words are also often used^ ^ There is none other God but 

one : besides me there is none else^ and I know no other' :* 
the going after other gods is reckoned the highest and the 
John xvii. Hiost unpardonable act of idolatry. The New Testament goes 
3. on in the same strain. Christ speaks of the only true God, 

1 CorviU ^^^^ alone ought to be worshipped and served; all the 

5, 6. * apostles do frequently affirm the same thing : they make the 
believing of one God^ in opposition to the many Gods of the 
heathens^ the chief article of the Christian religion; and they 
Eph. iv. 4, lay down this as the chief ground of our obligation to mutual 
5. 6. love and union among ourselves^ That ^ there is one God^ one 
Lord, one faith^ one baptism.' Now, since we are sure that 
there is but one Messias, and one doctrine delivered by him, 
it will clearly follow that there must be but one God. 

So the unity of the Divine Essence is clearly proved both 
from the order and government of the world, from the idea 
of infinite perfection, and from those express declarations that 
are made concerning it in the scriptures ; w^hich last is a fuM-" 
i:)roof to all such as own and submit to them. 

The third head in this Article is that which is negatively 
expressed, that God is without body, paints, or passions. In 
general, all these are so plainly contrary to the ideas of in^s 
finite perfection, and they appear so evidently to be imper- 
fections, that this part of the Article will need little explana- 
tion. We do plainly perceive that our bodies are clogs tQ^ 
our minds ; and all the use, that even the purest sort of body,"? 
in an estate conceived to be glorified, can be of to a mind, is 
to be an instrument of local motion, or to be a repository - 
of ideas for memory and imagination : but God, who is everyi:t 
w^here, and is one pure and simple act, can have no such use 
for a body. A mind dwelling in a body is in many respects 
superior to it; yet in some respects is under it. We, who feel 
how an act of our mind can so direct the motions of our 
body that a thought sets our limbs and joints a going, can, 
from thence, conceive how that the whole extent of matter 
should receive such motions as the acts of the Supreme Mind 
give it; but yet not as a body united to it, or that the Deity:, 
either needs such a body, or can receive any trouble from it^a 
Thus far the apprehension of the thing is very plainly madeB 

of the four passages which they write on their phylacteries. On the word Elohim, 
Simeon Ben Joachi says, ' Come and see the mystery of the word Elohim : there 
are three degrees, and each degree is by itself alone, and yet they are all one, and 

oined together in one, and are not divided from each other.' — Bagster's Compre- 
hensive Bible. — Note 07i the passage. — [Ed.] 

* The passage stands thus in Isa. xliv. 6. ' Thus saith the Lord, the King of 

srael, and his redeemer the Lord of Hosts ; I am the first and I am the last ; 

tnd beside me there is no God.' These titles are in the New Testament given td*-' 
the Lord Jesus Christ, Rev. i. 8, 11—13,17, 18. and xxii. 12, 13, 16.— [Ec] .;tj 



THE XXXIX ARTICLES. 



29 



out to us. Our thoughts put some parts of our body in a ART. 
present motion, when the organization is regular, and all the ^' 
parts are exact, and when there is no obstruction in those ves- 
sels or passages, through which that heat and those spirits, do 
pass, that cause the motion. We do in this perceive, that a 
thought does command matter ; but our minds are limited to 
our bodies, and these do not obey them, but as they are in 
an exact disposition and a fitness to be so moved. Now 
these are plain imperfections; but, removing them from God, 
we can from thence apprehend that all the matter in the uni- 
verse may be so entirely subject to the Di^mie Mind, that it 
shall move and be whatsoever and wheresoever he will have ^ ^ 
it to be. . This is that which all men do agree in. ' ' ' ?>' 

But many of the philosophers thought that matter, though 
it was moved and moulded by God at his pleasure, yet was 
not made by him, but was self-existent, and was a passive 
principle, but coexistent to the Deity, which they thought 
was the active principle : from whence some have thought, 
that the belief of two gods, one good and another bad, did 
spring : though others imagine that the belief of a bad god 
did arise from the corruption of that tradition concerning 
fallen angels, as Avas before suggested. The philosophers 
could not apprehend that things could be made out of 
nothing, and therefore they believed that matter was co- 
eternal with God. But it is as hard to apprehend how a 
mind, by its thought, should give motion to matter, as how it 
should give it being. A being not made by God is not so 
easily conceivable to be under the acts of his mind, as that 
which is made by him. This conceit plainly destroys infinite 
perfection, which cannot be in God, if all beings are not from 
him, and under his authority ; besides that, successive dura- 
tion has been already proved inconsistent with eternity. 
This opinion of the world^s being a body to God, as the mind 
that dwells in it, and actuates it, is the foundation of atheism : 
for if it be once thought that God can do nothing mthout 
such a body, then, as this destroys the idea of infinite perfec- 
tion, so it makes way to this conceit, that since matter is 
visible, and God invisible, there is no other God, but the vast 
extent of the universe. It is true, God has often shewed him- 
self in visible appearances; but that was only his putting a 
special quantity of matter into such motions, as should give a 
great and astonishing idea of his nature, from that appear- 
ance : which was both the effect of his power, and the symbol 
of his presence. And thus what glorious representations 
soever were made either on mount Sinai, or in the pillar of 
the cloud, and cloud of glory, those were no indications of 
God^s having a body ; but were only manifestations, suited 
to beget such thoughts in the minds of men, that dwelt in 
bodies, as might lay the principles and foundations of reli- 
gion deep in them. The language of the scriptures speaks to 



30 



AN EXPOSITION OF 



AR ']\ the capacities of men^ and even of rude men in dark times, 
^' in which most of the Scriptures were writ: but^ though God 
is spoke of as having a face, eyes, ears, a smeUing, hands and 
feet, and as coming down to view things on earth, all this is 
expressed after the manner of men, and is to be understood 
in a way suita1)le to a pure spirit. For the great care that 
was used, even under the most imperfect state of revelation, 
to keep men from framing any image or similitude of the 
Deity, shewed that it was far from the meaning of those ex- 
pressions, that God had an organized body. These do there- 
fore signify only the several varieties of Providence. When 
God was pleased with a nation, his face was said to shine 
upon it ; for so a man looks towards those whom he loves. 
The particular care he takes of them, and the answering their 
prayers, is expressed by figures borrowed from eyes and ears: 
the peculiar dispensations of rewards and punishments are ■ 
expressed by his hands; and the exactness of his justice and ' 
wisdom is expressed by coming down to view the state of 
human affairs. Thus it is clear that God has no body: nor 
has he parts, for we can apprehend no parts but of a body : 
so, since it is certain that God has no body, he can have no 
parts: something like parts does indeed belong to spirits, 
which are their thoughts distinct from their being, and they 
have a succession of them, and do oft change them. But 
infinite perfection excludes this from the idea of God ; suc- 
cessive thoughts, as well as successive duration, seem in- 
consistent both with eternity, and with infinite perfection. 
Therefore the essence of God is one perfect thoiight, in which 
he both vieAvs and wills all things : and though his transient 
acts that pass out of the divine essence, such as creation, 
providence, and miracles, are done in a succession of time ; 
yet his immanent acts, his knowledge and his decrees, are 
one with his essence. Distinct thoughts are plainly an im- 
perfection, and argue a progress in knowledge, and a delibe- 
ration in council, which carry defect and infirmity in them. 
To conceive how this is in God is far above our capacity : 
who, though we feel our imperfection in successive acts, yet 
cannot apprehend how all things can be both seen and de- 
termined by one single thought. But the divine Essence 
being so infinitely above us, it is no wonder if we can fran[Se 
no distinct act concerning its knowledge or will. ^• 
There is indeed a vast difficulty that arises here; for 
those acts of God are supposed free; so that they might 
have been otherwise than we see they are: and then it is 
not easy to imagine how they should be one with the divine 
Essence, to which necessary existence does certainly belong. 
It cannot be said that those acts are necessary, and could 
not be otherwise : for, since all God^s transient acts are the 
certain effects of his immanent ones, if the immanent ones 
are necessary, then the transient must be so likewise, and so 



THE XXXIX ARTICLES. 



31 



every thing must be necessary: a chain of necessary fate ART. 
must run through the whole order of things ; and God him- ^' 
self then is no free beings but acts by a necessity of nature. 
This some have thought was no absurdity: God is neces- 
sarily just^ true, and good, not by any extrinsic necessity, for 
that would import an outward Hmitation, which destroys the 
idea of God; but by an intrinsic necessity that arises from 
his own infinite perfection. Some have from hence thought 
that, since God acts by infinite wisdom and goodness, things 
could not have been otherwise than they are : for what is 
infinitely wise or good cannot be altered, or made either 
better or worse. But this seems on the other hand very 
hard to conceive : for it would follow from thence, that God 
could neither have made the world sooner nor later, nor any 
other way than now it is : nor could he have done any one 
thing otherwise than as it is done. This seems to establish 
fate, and to destroy industry and all prayers and endeavours. 
Thus there are such great difficulties on all hands in this 
matter that it is much the wisest and safest course to adore 
what is above our apprehensions, rather than to inquire too 
curiously, or determine too boldly in it. It is certain that 
God acts both freely and perfectly: nor is he a Being subject 
to change, or to new acts; but he is what he is, both infinite 
and incomprehensible: we can neither apprehend how he 
made, nor how he executes his decrees. So we must leave 
this difficulty, without pretending that we can explain it, or 
answer the objections that arise against all the several ways 
by which divines have endeavoured to resolve it. 

The third thing under the head I now consider is, God^s 
being- without passions. That will be soon explained. Pas- 
sion is an agitation that supposes a succession of thoughts, 
together with a trouble for what is past, and a fear of missing 
what is aimed at. It arises out of a heat of mind, and pro- 
duces a vehemence of action. Now all these are such mani- 
fest imperfections, that it does plainly appear they cannot 
consist with infinite perfection. Yet after all this, there are 
several passions, such as anger, fury, jealousy, and revenge, 
bowels of mercy, compassion and pity, joy and sorrow, that are 
ascribed to God in the common forms of speech, that occur 
often in scripture, as was formerly observed, with relation to 
those figures that are taken from the parts of a human body. 
Passion produces a vehemence of action : so, when there is 
in the providences of God such a vehemence as, according to 
the manner of men, would import a passion, then that passion 
is ascribed to God: when he punishes men for sin, he is 
said to be angry : when he does that by severe and re- 
doubled strokes, he is said to be full of fury and revenge : 
when he punishes for idolatry, or any dishonour done himself^ 
he is said to be jealous : when he changes the course of his 
proceedings, he is said to repent : when his dispensations of 



32 



AN EXPOSITION OF 



A R T. providence are very gentle, and his judgments come slowly 
^ from him, he is said to have bowels. And thus all the 
varieties of Providence come to be expressed by all that 
variety of passions, which among men might give occasion to 
such a variety of proceeding. ...^ 
The fourth head in this article is concerning the power, 
wisdom, mid goodness of God, that he is infinite in them. If 
he can give being to things that are not, and can also give all 
the possibilities of motion, size, and shape, to beings that d© 
exist, here is power without bounds. A power of creating 
must be infinite, since nothing can resist it. If some things 
are in their own nature impossible, that does not arise from 
the want of power in God, which extends to every thing that 
is possible. But that, which is supposed to be impossible of 
its own nature, cannot actually be : otherwise a thing might 
both be and not be; and it is perceptible to every man that 
this is impossible. It is not want of power in God, that lie 
cannot lie nor sin : it is the infinite purity of the Divine 
nature that makes this impossible, by reason of his infinite 
perfection. Nor is it a want of power in God, that the truth 
of propositions concerning things that are past, as that yes- 
terday once was, is unalterable. Among impossibilities^ one 
is, to take from any being that which is essential to it. G<)4 
can annihilate every being at his pleasure ; for, as he gave 
being with a thought, so he can destroy it with another : and 
this does fully assert the infinite power of God. But if he 
has made beings with such pecuHar essences, as that matter 
must be extended and impenetrable, and that it is capable o| 
peculiar surfaces and other modes, which are only its differ- 
ent sizes and shapes, then matter cannot be, and yet not be> 
extended; nor can these modes subsist, if the matter o| 
which they are the modes is withdrawn. The infinite powe^ 
of God is fully believed by those Avho acknowledge both his 
power of creating and annihilating ; together with a power of 
disposing of the whole creation, according to the possibilities 
of every part or individual of it; though they cannot con- 
ceive a possibility of separating the essential properties 41^ 
any being from itself ; that is to say, that it may both b^ 
and not be, at the same time; since an essential property is 
that which cannot be without that substance to which :iji 
belongs. : 1 

The wisdom of God consists first in his seeing all the possi- 
bilities of things, and then in his knowing all things that either 
are, or ever were, or shall be : the former is called the know- 
ledge of simple intelligence or apprehension ; the other is called 
the knowledge of vision. The one arises from the perfection 
of the divine Essence, by which he apprehends whatever is 
possible ; the other arises from his own decrees, in which the 
whole order of things is fixed. But besides these two ideas 
that we can frame of the knowledge of God, some have 



THE XXXIX ARTICLES. 



33 



imagined a third knowledge^ wliich^ because it is of a middle ART. 

order betmxt intelligence and vision, they have called a middle 

knowledge ; which is the knowing certainly how, according to 
all the possibiHties of circumstances in which free agents 
might be put, they should choose and act. Some have thought 
that this Avas a vain and needless conceit ; and that it is im- 
possible that such knowledge should be certain, or more than 
conjectural; and, since conjecture implies doubt, it is an 
imperfect act, and so does not become a Being of infinite per- 
fection. But others have thought that the infinite perfection 
of the divine Mind must go so far as to foresee certainly what 
free creatures are to do ; since upon this foresight only they 
imagine that the justice or goodness of God in his providence 
can be made out or defended. It seemed fit to mention this 
upon the present occasion ; but it wiU be then proper to in- 
quire more carefully about it, when the article of predestination 
is explained. 

It is necessary to state the idea of the goodness of God 
most carefully ; for we naturally enough frame great and just 
ideas of power and wisdom ; but we easily fall into false con- 
ceits of goodness. This is that of all the divine perfections in 
which we are the most concerned, and so we ought to be the 
most careful to frame true ideas of it : it is also that, of all 
God^s attributes, of which the scriptures speak most copiously. 
Infinite goodness is a tendency to communicate the divine 
perfections to aU created beings, according to their several 
capacities. God is original goodness, all perfect and happy 
in himself, acting and seeing every thing in a perfect light ; 
and he having made rational beings capable of some degrees 
of his light, purity, and perfection, the first and primary act 
of goodness is to propose to them such means as may raise 
them to these, to furnish them with them, to move them oft 
to them, to accept and to assist their sincere endeavours after 
them. A second act of goodness, which is but in order to the 
first, is to pity those miseries into which men fall, as long as 
there is any principle or possibility left in them of their 
becoming good ; to pardon aU such sins as men have com- 
mitted, who turn to the purposes of becoming seriously good, 
and to pass by all the frailties and errors of those who are 
truly and upon the main good, though surprise and strong 
temptations prove often too hard for them. These two give 
us as full an idea as we can have of perfect goodness ; whose 
first aim must be the making us good, and Hke to that original 
goodness : pity and pardon coming in but in a subsidiary way, 
to carry on the main design of making men truly good. 
Therefore the chief act and design of goodness is the making 
us truly good ; and, when any person falls below that possi- 
bility, he is no more the object of pity or pardon, because he 
is no more capable of becoming good. Pardon is ofi'ered on 
design to make us reaUy good; so it is not to be sought for^ 

D 



34 



AN EXPOSITION OF 



ART. nor rested in, but in order to a farther end, which is the 
^' reforming our natures, and the making us partakers of the 
divine nature. We are not therefore to frame ideas of a 
feeble goodness in God, that yields to importunate cries, or 
that melts at a vast degree of misery. Tenderness in human 
nature is a great ornament and perfection, necessary to dispose 
us to much benignity and mercy : but, in the common adr- 
ministration of justice, this tenderness must be restrained; 
otherwise it would slacken the rigour of punishment too much, 
which might dissolve the order and peace of human societies. 
But since we cannot see into the truth of men^s hearts, a 
charitable disposition and a compassionate temper are neces- 
sary to make men sociable and kind, gentle and humane. 
God, who sees our hearts, and is ever assisting all our endear- 
vours to become truly good, needs not this tenderness, nor is 
he indeed capable of it ; for, after all its beauty with relation 
to the state wherein we are now put, yet, in itself it implies 
imperfection. Nor can the miseries and bowlings of wicked 
beings, after all the seeds and possibilities of goodness are 
utterly extinguished in them, give any pity to the divine 
Being. These are no longer the object of the primary act of 
his goodness, and therefore they cannot come under its 
secondary acts. It is of such great consequence to settle this 
notion right in our minds, that it well deserves to be so 
copiously opened ; tsince we now see in what respects God^s 
goodness is without bounds, and infinite ; that is, it reaches 
to all men, after all sins whatsoever, as long as they are capa- 
ble of becoming good. It is not a limitation of the divine 
goodness to say, that some men and some states are beyond 
it ; no more than it is a limitation of his power to say, that 
he cannot sin, or cannot do impossibilities : for a goodness, 
towards persons not capable of becoming good, is a goodness 
that does not agree with the infinite purity and holiness of 
God. It is such a goodness, that if it were proposed to the 
world, it would encourage men to live in sin, and to think 
that a few acts of homage offered to God, perhaps in our 
last extremities, could so far please him, as to bribe and cor- 
rupt him. 

This is that which makes idolatry so great a sin, so often 
forbid by God, and so severely punished, not only as it is 
injurious to the majesty of God, but because it corrupts the 
ideas or notions of God. Those ideas rightly formed are the 
basis upon which all religion is built. The seeds and princi- 
ples of a new and godlike nature spring up in us as we form 
ourselves upon the true ideas or notions of God. Therefore, 
when God is proposed to be adored by us under a visible 
shape or image, all the acts of religion offered to it are only 
so many pieces of pageantry, and end in the flatterings and 
the magnifyings of it with much pomp, cruelty, or lascivious- 
ness, according to the different genius of several nations. So 



THE XXXIX ARTICLES. 



35 



the forming a false notion of the goodness of God^ as a tender- ART. 

ness that is to be overcome with importunities and howhngs^ 

and other submissions^ and not to be gained only by becom- 
ing hke him^ is a capital and fundamental error in religion. 

The next branch of this article is^ God^s creating and pre- 
serving of all tilings ; and that both material substances^, which 
are visible, and immaterial and spiritual substances, which are 
invisible. God^s creating all things has been already made 
out. If matter could neither be eternal, nor give itself a 
being, then it must have its being from God. Creating does 
naturally import infinite power; for that power is clearly 
mthout bounds, that can make things out of nothing: a 
bounded power, which can only shape and mould matter, 
must suppose it to have a being, before it can work upon it. 
We cannot indeed form a distinct thought of creation, for we 
cannot apprehend what nothing is. The nearest approach we 
can bring ourselves to a true idea of this, is, the considering our 
own thoughts ; especially our ideas of mathematical propor- 
tions, and the other affections of bodies : those ideas are the 
modes of a spiritual substance ; and there is no likeness nor 
resemblance between them and the modes of material sub- 
stances, which are only the occasions of our having those 
ideas, and not in any wise the matter out of which they are 
formed. Here seems to be a sort of beings brought out of 
nothing; but, after all, this is vastly below creation, and is 
only a faint resemblance of it. 

With the power of creating we must also join that of anni- 
hilating, which is equal to it, and must necessarily be sup- 
posed to be in God, because we plainly perceive it to be a 
perfection. The recalling into nothing a being brought out of 
nothing, is a necessary consequence of infinite power, when it 
thinks fit so to exert itself. There is a common notion in the 
world, that things would fall back into nothing of themselves, 
if they were not preserved by the same infinite Power that 
made them : but without question it is an act of the same 
infinite Power to reduce a being to nothing, that it is to bring 
a being out of nothing : so whatever has once a being, must 
of its nature continue still to be, without any new causality or 
influence. This must be acknowledged, unless it can be said, 
that a tendency to annihilation is the consequent of a created 
being. But as this would make the preservation of the world 
to be a continued violence to a natural tendency that is in all 
things ; so there is no more reason to imagine that beings 
have a tendency to annihilation, than that nothing had a ten- 
dency to creation. It is absurd to think that any thing can 
have a tendency to that which is essentially opposite to itself, 
and is destructive of it. 

The preservation of things is the keeping the frame of 
nature, and the order of the universe, in such a state as is suit- 
able to the purposes of the supreme Mind. It is true, natural 

D 2 



36 



^ kN IBXPOSITION OF 



ART. agents must ever keep the course in which they are once put ; 
^- and the great heavenly orbs^ as well as all smaller motions, 
must ever have rolled on in one constant channel_, when they 
were once put into it ; so in this respect it may seem that 
conservation by a special act is not necessary. But we per- 
ceive a freedom in our own natures, and a power that our minds 
have, not only to move our own bodies, but by them, and by 
the help of such engines as we can invent, we make a vast 
change in this earth from what it would be, if it were left un- 
wrought. In a course of some ages, the whole world, by the 
natural progress of things, would be a forest : both earth and 
air are very much different from what they would be, if men 
were not free agents, and did not cultivate the earth, and 
thereby purify the air. The working of mines, minerals, and 
other fossils, makes also a great change in its bowels ; it gives 
vent to some damps which might much affect the air, and it 
frees the earth from earthquakes. Thus the industry of man 
has in many respects changed both earth and air very sensibly 
from what it would have been, if the world had not those 
inhabitants in it. Nor do we know what natural force other 
spirits inhabiting in or about it, or at least using subtiller 
bodies, may have, or in what influences or operations they 
may exert that force on material substances. Upon all these 
accounts it is, that the world could not be preserved in a con- 
stant and regular state, if the supreme Mind had not a direc- 
tion both of men's wills and actions, and of the course of 
nature : for, unless it is thought that man is really no free 
agent, but acts in a chain as certainly as other natural agents 
do, it must be acknowledged, that by the interposition of 
men's minds, together with their power over matter, the 
course of the first motion that was given to the universe is so 
changed, that if there is not a constant providence, the frame 
of nature must go out of the channel into which God did at 
first put it. The order of things on this earth takes a great 
turn from the wind, both as to the fruitfulness of the earth, 
and to the operations on the sea, and has likewise a great 
influence on the purity of the air, and, by consequence, on 
men^s good or ill health; and the wind, or the agitation of 
the air, turns so often and so quick, that it seems to be the 
gr^at instrument of Providence, upon which an unconceivable 
variety of things does naturally depend. I do not deny, but 
that it may be said, that all those changes in the air arise 
from certain and mechanical, though to us unknown, causes ; 
which may be supported from this, that between the tropics, 
where the influence of the heavenly bodies is stronger, the 
wind and weather are more regular ; though even that admits 
of great exceptions : yet it has been the common sense of 
mankind, that, besides the natural causes of the alterations in 
the air, tliey are under a particular influence and direction of 
Providence : and it is in itself highly probable, to say no more 



THE XXXIX ARTICLES. 



37 



of it. This may either be managed immediately by the acts ART 
of the divine Mind, to which nature readily obeys, or by some ^- 
subaltern mind, or angel, which may have as natural an effi- 
ciency over an extent of matter proportioned to its capacity, 
as a man has over his own body, and over that compass of 
matter that is within his reach. Which way soever God 
governs the world, and what influence soever he has over 
men's minds, we are sure that the governing and preserving 
his own workmanship is so plainly a perfection, that it must 
belong to a Being infinitely perfect : and there is such a chain 
in things, those of the greatest consequence arising often from 
small and inconsiderable ones, that we cannot imagine a 
Providence, unless we believe every thing to be within its 
ieare and view. 

, The only difficulty that has been made in apprehending 
jthis has arisen from the narrowness of men's minds, who 
have measured God rather by their own measure and capacity, 
than by that of infinite perfection, which, as soon as it is con- 
sidered, will put an end to aU farther doubtings about it. 
When we perceive that a vast number of objects enter in at 
our eye by a very small passage, and yet are so little jumbled 
in that crowd, that they open themselves regularly, though 
there is no great space for that neither ; and that they give us 
a distinct apprehension of many objects that lie before us, 
some even at a vast distance from us, both of their nature, 
colour, and size ; and by a secret geometry, from the angles 
that they make in our eye, we judge of the distance of all ob- 
jects both from us, and from one another. If to this we add 
the vast number of figures that we receive and retain long and 
with great order in our brains, which we easily fetch up either in 
our thoughts or in our discourses, we shall find it less difficult 
to apprehend how an infinite mind should have the universal 
view of all things ever present before it. It is true, we do 
not so easily conceive how free minds are under this Pro- 
vidence, as how natural agents should always move at its 
direction. But we perceive that one mind can work upon 
another. A man raises a sound of words, which carry such 
signs of his inward thoughts, that, by this motion in the air, 
another man's ear is so struck upon that thereby an impres- 
sion is made upon his brain, by which he not only conceives 
.Tvhat the other man's thought was, but is very powerfully 
rinchned to consent to it, and to concur with it. All this is a 
great way about, and could not be easily apprehended by us, 
if we had not a clear and constant perception of it. Now 
. since all this is brought about by a motion upon our brains, 
according to the force with which we are more or less affected, 
] it is very reasonable for us to apprehend that the supreme 
J, Mind can, besides many other ways to us less known, put 
^i^sucl)^ n^pjEigns in our brain, as may give us aU such thoughts 



38 



AN EXPOSITION OF 



A R T. as it intends to impress upon us, in as strong and effectual a 
manner as may fully answer all its purposes. 
- rpj_^g great objection that lies against tlie power and the 

goodness of Providence, from all that evil that is in the world, 
which God is either not willing or not able to hinder, will be 
more properly considered in another place ; at present it is 
enough in general to observe, that God's providence must 
carry on every thing according to its nature ; and since he has 
made some free beings capable of thought, and of good and 
evil, we must believe, that, as the course of nature is not oft 
put out of its channel, unless when some extraordinary thing 
is to be done, in order to some great end, so, in the govern- 
ment of free agents, they must be generally left to their 
liberty, and not put too oft off their bias : this is a hint to 
resolve that difficulty by, concerning all the moral evil, which 
is, generally speaking, the occasion of most of the physical 
evil that is in the world. A providence thus settled, that ex- 
tends itself to all things both natural and free, is necessary to 
preserve religion, to engage us to prayers, praises, and to a 
dependence on it, and a submission to it. Some have thought 
it was necessary to carry this farther, and so they make God to 
be the first and immediate cause of every action or motion. 
This some modern writers have taken from the schools, and 
have dressed it in new phrases of general laws, particular wills, 
and occasional causes ; and. so they express or explain God^s 
producing every motion that is in matter, and his raising 
every sensation, and, by the same parity of reason, every 
cogitation in minds : this they think arises out of the idea of 
infinite perfection, and fully answers these words of the scrip- 
tures, that ^ in God we live, move, and have our being.-' To 
others all this seems first unnecessary ; for, if God has made 
matter capable of motion, and capable of receiving it from the 
stroke or impulse that another piece of matter gives it, this 
comes as truly from God, as if he did immediately give every 
motion by an act of his own wiU. It seems more suitable to 
the beauty of his workmanship, to think that he has so framed 
things that they hold on in that course in which he has put 
them, than to make him perpetually produce every new 
motion. And the bringing God immediately into every 
thing, may, by an odd reverse of effects, make the world 
think that every thing is done as much without him, as others 
are apt to imagine that every thing is done by him. And 
though it is true that we cannot distinctly apprehend how a 
motion in our brain should raise such a thought as answers 
to it in our minds ; yet it seems more reasonable to think that 
God has put us under such an order of being from which that 
does naturally follow, than that he himseK should interpose 
in every thought. The difficulty of apprehending how a thing 
is done, can be no prejudice to the belief of it, when we have 
the infinite power of God in our thoughts, who may be as 



THE XXXIX ARTICLES. 



39 



easily conceived to liave once for all put us in a method of ART 
receiving such sensations, by a general law or course of nature, ^• 
as to give us new ones at every minute. But the greatest 
difficulty against this is, that it makes God the first physical 
cause of all the evil that is in the world : which, as it is con- 
trary to his nature, so, it absolutely destroys all liberty ; and 
this puts an end to all the distinctions between good and evil, 
and consequently to all religion. And as for those large ex- 
pressions that are brought from scripture, every word in scrip- 
ture is not to be stretched to the utmost physical sense to 
which it can be carried : it is enough if a sense is given to it, 
that agrees to the scope of it : which is fully answered by 
acknowledging, that the power and providence of God is over 
all things, and that it directs every thing to wise and good 
ends, from which nothing is hid, by which nothing is forgot, 
and to which nothing can resist. This scheme of providence 
fully agrees with the notion of a Being infinitely perfect, and 
with all that the scriptures affirm concerning it : and it lays 
down a firm foundation for all the acts and exercises of 
rehgion. 

As to the power and providence of God with relation to 
invisible beings, we plainly perceive that there is in us a 
principle capable of thought and liberty, of which, by aU that 
appears to us, matter is not at all capable : after its utmost 
refinings by fires and furnaces, it is still passive, and has no 
self-motion, much less thought, in it. Thought seems plainly 
to arise from a single principle, that has no parts, and is quite 
another thing than the motion of one subtile piece of matter 
upon another can be supposed to be. If thought is only 
motion, then no part of us thinks, but as it is in motion ; so that 
only the moving particles, or rather their surfaces, that strike 
upon one another, do think : but such a motion must end 
quickly in the dissipation and evapbration of the whole think- 
ing substance ; nor can any of the quiescent parts have any 
perception of such thoughts, or any reflection upon them. 
And to say that matter may have other affections unknown 
to us besides motion, by which it may think, is to affirm a 
thing without any sort of reason : it is rather a flying from an 
argument, than an answering it : no man has any reason to 
affirm this, nor can he have any. And besides, all our cogita- 
tions of immaterial things, proportions, and numbers, do 
plainly shew that we have a being in us distinct from matter, 
that rises above it, and commands it : we perceive we have a 
freedom of moving and acting at pleasure. All these things 
give us a clear perception of a being that is in us distinct from 
matter, of which we are not able to form a complete idea: 
we having only four perceptions of its nature and operations. 
1. That it thinks. 2. That it has an inward power of choice. 

3. That by its will it can move and command the body. And, 

4. That it is in a close and entire union with it, that it has a 



40 



AN EXPOSITION OF 



ART. dependence on it, as to many of its acts, as well as an autlio- 
^- rity over it in many other things. Such a being that has no 
parts must be immortal in its nature, for every single being is 
immortal. It is only the union of parts that is capable of 
being dissolved ; that which has no parts is indissoluble. To 
this two objections are made : one is, that beasts seem to > 
have both thought and freedom, though in a lower order : if ; 
then matter can be capable of this in any degree how low : 
soever, a higher rectification of matter may be capable of a : 
higher degree of it. It is therefore certain, that either beasts 
have no thought or liberty at all, and are only pieces of finely 
organized matter, capable of many subtile motions, that come 
to them from objects without them, but that they hasre no 
sensation nor thought at all about them : or, since how pret- ; 
tily soever some may have dressed up this notion, it is that i 
which human nature cannot receive or bear ; there being such ? 
evident indications of even high degrees of reason among the 
beasts | it is more reasonable to imagine, that there may be 
spirits of a lower order in beasts, that have in them a capacity i 
of thinking and choosing; but that so entirely under the im- 
pressions of matter, that they are not capable of that large- 
ness^ either of thought or liberty, that is necessary to make 
them capable of good or evil, of rewards and punishments; and > 
that therefore they may be perpetually rolling about from ormd 
body to another. Another objection to the belief of an im^w 
material substance in us is, that we feel it depends so entirely r 
on the fabric and state of the brain, that a disorder, a vapour, 
or humour in it, defaces all our thoughts, our memory, and 
imagination ; and, since we find that which we call mind sinks j 
so low upon a disorder of the body, it may be reasonable t^ij 
believe, that it evaporates, and is quite dissipated, upon the -t 
dissolution of our bodies : so that the soul is nothing but the 
livelier parts of the blood, called the animal spirits. In 
answer to this, we know that those animal spirits are of such 
an evanid and subtile nature, that they are in a perpetual 
waste, new ones always succeeding as the former go off: but 
we perceive at the same time that our soul is a stable an^t^ 
permanent being, by the steadiness of its acts and thoughts; 
we being for many years plainly the same beings, and there- 
fore our souls cannot be such a loose and evaporating sub- 
stance as those spirits are. The spirits are indeed the inward 
organs of the mind, for memory, speech, and bodily motion ; 
and, as these flatten or are wasted, the mind is less able to 
act : as when the eye or any other organ of sense is weakened, 
the sensations grow feeble on that side : and as a man is less 
able to work, when all those instruments he makes use of 
are blunted ; so the mind may sink upon a decay or disorder 
in those spirits, and yet be of a nature wholly different from 
them. How a mind should work on matter, cannot, I confess, 
be clearly comprehended. It cannot be denied by any that 



THE XXXIX ARTICLES. 



4J 



is not a direct atheist^, that the thoughts of the supreme Mind A R T. 
give impressions and motions to matter. So our thoughts ^' 
may give a motion^ or the determination of motion_, to matter, 
and yet rise from substances wholly different from it. Nor 
is it inconceivable^ that the supreme Mind should have put 
our minds likewise under such a subordination to some mate- ' 
rial motions, that out of them peculiar thoughts should arise 
in us. And though this union is that which we cannot dis- 
tinctly conceive ; yet there is no difficulty in it, equal to that 
of our imagining that matter can think or move itself. We 
perceive that we ourselves and the rest of mankind have 
thinking principles within us ; so from thence it is easy 
enough to us to apprehend, that there may be other thinking 
beings, which either have no bodies at all, but act purely as 
intellectual substances : or, if they have bodies, that they are 
so subtihzed as to be capable of a vast quickness of motion, 
such in proportion as we perceive to be in our animal spirits, 
which in the minute that our minds command them, are 
raising motions in the remotest parts of our bodies. Such 
bodies may also be so thin as to be invisible to us ; and as 
among men some are good and some bad, and of the bad 
some seem to be determinedly, and, as to all appearance, in- 
curably bad ; so there may have been a time and state of 
liberty, in which those spirits were left to their choice, 
whether they w^ould continue in their innocency, or faU from 
it; and such as continued might be for ever fixed in that 
state, or exalted to higher degrees in it : and such as fell from 
it might faU irrecoverably into a state of utter apostacy from 
God, and of rebellion against him. There is nothing in this 
theory that is incredible : therefore, if the scriptures have 
told us any thing concerning it, we have no reason to be pre- 
judiced against them upon that account : besides that, there 
are innumerable histories in many several countries and ages 
of the world, of extraordinary apparitions, and other unac- 
countable performances, that could only have been done by 
invisible powers. Many of those are so weU attested, that it 
argues a strange pitch of obstinacy, to refuse to believe a 
matter of fact when it is well vouched, and when there is 
nothing in reason to oppose it, but an unwillingness to believe 
imdsible beings. It is true, this is an argument in which a 
fabulous humour will go far, and in which some are so credu- 
lous as to swallow down every thing ; therefore all wise men 
ought to suspend their belief, and not to go too fast : but 
when things are so undeniably attested, that there is no rea- 
son to question the exactness or the credit of the witnesses, 
it argues a mind unreasonably prepossessed to reject all such 
evidence. 

AU those invisible beings were created by God, and are 
not to be considered as emanations or rays of his essence, 
which was a gross conceit of such philosophers as fancied that 



42 



AN EXPOSITION OF 



ART. the Deity had parts. They are beings created by him^ and 
1- are capable of passing through various scenes^ in boaies more 
or less refined. In this life the state of our minds receives 
vast alterations from the state of our bodies^ which ripen gra- 
dually : and after they are come to their full growth, they 
cannot hold in that condition long, but sink down much faster 
than they grew up ; some humours or diseases discomposing 
the brain, which is the seat of the mind, so entirely, that it 
cannot serve it, at least so far as to reflex acts. So in the 
next state it is possible that we may at first be in a less per- 
fect condition by reason of this, that we may have a less per- 
fect body, to which we may be united between our death and 
the general resurrection ; and there may be a time, in which 
we may receive a vast addition and exaltation in that state by 
the raising up of our former bodies, and the reuniting us to 
them, which may give us a greater compass, and a higher 
elevation. 

These things are only proposed as suppositions, that have 
no absurdity in them : so that, if they should happen to be 
the parts of a revealed religion, there is no reason to doubt 
of it, or to reject it, on such an account. 

The last branch of this article is the assertion of that greait' 
doctrine of the Christian religion concerning the Trinity, 6# 
three Persons in one divine essence. It is a vain attempt to 
go about to prove this by reason: for it must be confessed^j- 
that we should have had no cause to have thought of any 
such, thing, if the scriptures had not revealed it to us. There 
are indeed prints of a very ancient tradition in the world, of 
three in the Deity ; * called the Word, or the Wisdom, and the 
Spirit, or the Love, besides the fountain of both these, God : 
this was believed by those from whom the most ancient phi- 

* Doctor Buchanan, in his Christian Researches in Asia, observes, that the chief 
and distinguishing- doctrines of the Scripture — the Trinity in Unity ; the incar- 
nation of the Deity ; a vicarious atonement for sin ; and the influence of the Divine 
Spirit on the mind of man — are held by the eastern nations, though in gross igno- 
rance respecting the only living and true God. Of the Trinity he vv^rites : 

' The Hindoos believe in one God, Brahma ; and yet they represent him as sub- 
sisting in three persons ; and they worship one or other of these persons in every 
part of India. And what proves distinctly that they hold this doctrine is, that their 
most ancient representation of the Deity is formed of one body and three faces. 
. The most remarkable of these is that at the caves of Elephanta, in an island near 
Bombay. The author visited it in the year 1808 ; nor has he seen any work of 
art in the east, which he contemplated with greater wonder : whether considered 
with respect to its colossal size, its great antiquity, the beauty of the sculpture, or 
the excellence of the preservation. From causes which cannot now be known, 
the Hindoos have long since ceased to worship at this temple. Each of the faces 
of the Triad is about five feet in length. The whole of the statue and the spacious 
temple which contains it, is cut out of the solid rock of the mountain. The Hin- 
doos assign to these works an immense antiquity, and attribute the workmanship 
to the Gods. The temple of Elephanta is certainly one of the wonders of the 
world, and is, perhaps, a grander effort of the ingenuity of man, than the pyramids 
of Egypt. Whence then have the Hindoos derived the idea of a Triune God? It 
should seem as if they had heard of the Elohim of Revelation in the first chapter 
of Genesis—*' Let us make man." ' [Ed.] 



THE XXXIX ARTICLES. 



43 



losophers had their doctrines. The author of the Book of ART. 

Wisdom, Philo, and the Chaldee parajDhrasts, have many ^ 

things that shew that they had received those traditions from 
the former ages ; but it is not so easy to determine what gave 
the first rise to them. 

It has been much argued, whether this was revealed in the 
Old Testament or not ; some from the plural termination of 
Elohim, which is joined to singular verbs, and from that of 
the Lord raining fire from the Lord upon Sodom {Jehovah 
from Jehovah) ; from the description of the Wisdom of God 
in the 8th of the Proverbs, as a Person with God from all 
eternity; and from the mention that is often made of the 
Spirit, as well as the Word of God that came to the prophets ; 
they have, I say, from all these places, and some others, con- 
cluded, that this is contained in the Old Testament. Others 
have doubted of this, and have said that the name Elohim, 
though of a plural termination, being often joined to a singu- 
lar verb, makes it reasonable to think it was a singular : 
which, by somewhat peculiar to that language, might be of a 
plural termination. Nor have they thought that since angels 
carry the name of God, when they went on special deputations 
from him, the angels being called Jehovah could be very con- 
fidently urged: that sublime description of the Wisdom of 
God in the Proverbs seems not to them to be a full proof in 
this matter : for the Wisdom there mentioned seems to be 
the Wisdom of creation and providence, which is not per- 
sonal, but belongs to the essence ; nor do they think that 
those places in the Old Testament, in which mention is made 
of the Word, or of the Spirit of God, can settle this point ; 
for these may only signify God^s revealing himself to his pro- 
phets. Therefore, whatever secret tradition the Jews might 
have had among them concerning this, from whom perhaps 
the Greeks might have also had it ; yet many do not pretend 
to prove this from passages in the Old Testament alone : 
though the expositions given to some of them in the New 
Testament prove to us, who acknowledge it, what was the 
true meaning of those passages ; yet, take the Old Testament 
in itself without the New, and it must be confessed that it 
will not be easy to prove this article from it. 

But there are very full and clear proofs of it in the New 
Testament ; and they had need be both full and clear, before 
a doctrine of this nature can be pretended to be proved by 
them. In order to the making this mystery to be more dis- 
tinctly inteUigible, different methods have been taken. By 
one Substance many do understand a numerical or individual 
unity of substance ; and by three Persons they understand 
three distinct subsistences in that essence. It is not pre- 
tended by these, that we can give a distinct idea of Person or 
Subsistence, only they hold it imports a real diversity in one 
from another, and even such a diversity from the substance 



44 



AN EXPOSITION OF 



A R l\ of the Deity itself^ that some things belong to the Person 
I- which do not belong to the Substance : for the Substance 

"' _ neither begets nor is begotten ; neither breathes^ nor proceeds, 
i',^' If this carries in it something that is not agreeable to our 
notions^ nor like any thing that we can apprehend^ to this it 
is said^ that^ if God has revealed that in the scripture which 
is thus expressed, we are bound to believe it, though we can 
frame no clear apprehension about it. God's eternity, his 
being all one single act, his creating and preserving all things, 
and his being every where, are things that are absolute riddles 
to us : we cannot bring our minds to conceive them, and yet 
we must believe that they are so; because we see much 
greater absurdities must follow upon our conceiving that they 
should be otherwise. So if God has declared this inexphca- 
ble thing concerning himself to us, we are bound to believe it^ 
though we cannot have any clear idea how it truly is. For 
there appear as strange and unanswerable difficulties in many 
other things, which yet we know to be true ; so if we are 
once well assured that God has revealed his doctrine to us, 
we must silence all objections against it, and believe it: rec- 
koning that our not understanding it, as it is in itself, makes 
the difficulties seem to be much greater than otherwise they 
would appear to be, if we had light enough about it, or were 
capable of forming a more perfect idea of it while ^"^e are. m 
this depressed state. , f^rTO'v! 

Others give another view of this matter, that is not indeed 
so hard to be apprehended : but that has an objection against 
it, that seems as great a prejudice against it, as the difficulty 
of apprehending the other way is against that : it is this ; they 
do hold that there are three Minds ; that the first of these 
three, who is from that called the Father, did from all eternity 
by an emanation of essence beget the Son, and by another 
emanation that was from eternity likewise, and was as essen- 
tial to him as the former, both the first and the second, did 
jointly breathe forth the Spirit ; and that these are three dis- 
tinct Minds, every one being God, as much as the other : only 
the Father is the fountain, and is only self-originated. AU 
this is in a good degree intelligible : but it seems hard to re- 
concile it both with the idea of unity, which seems to belong 
to a Being of infinite perfection ; and with the many express 
declarations that are made in the scriptures concerning the 
unity of God. Instead of going farther into explanations of 
that which is certainly very far beyond all our apprehensions, 
and that ought therefore to be let alone, I shall now consider 
what declarations are made in the scripture concerning this 
point. 

The first and the chief is in that charge and commission 
which our Saviour gave to his apostles to go and make dis- 
ciples to him among all nations, ^ baptizing them in the name 
of the Father, the Son, and the Holy Ghost. ^ By name is 



THE ^tSM^gOA^loLES. 



meant either an authority' (Iferived to them^ in the virtue of ART. 
which all nations were to be baptized: or that the persons so ^- 
baptized are dedicated to the Father, Son, and Holy Ghost. Matt. 
Either of these senses, as it proves them all to be Persons, so xxviii. 19. 
it sets them in an equality, in a thing that can only belong to 
the divine Nature. Baptism is the receiving men from a state 
^df sin and wrath, into a state of favour, and into the rights of 
%he sons of God, and the hopes of eternal happiness, and a 
falling them by the name of God. These are things that can 
'^Obly be offered and assured to men in the name of the great 
'^and eternal God ; and therefore, since, without any distinction 
or note of inequality, they are all three set together as Per- 
sons in whose name this is to be done, they must be all three 
the true God ; otherwise it looks like a just prejudice against 
our Saviour, and his whole gospel, that by his express direc- 
tion the first entrance to it, which gives the visible and foede- 
ral right to those great blessings that are offered by it, or their 
initiation into it, should be in the name of two created beings, 
(if the one can be called properly so much as a being, accord- 
ing to their hypothesis,) and that even in an equality with the 
supreme and increated Being. The plainness of this charge, 
and the great occasion upon which it was given, makes this 
^n argument of such force and evidence, that it may justly 
'determine the whole matter. 

A second argument is taken from this, that we find St. 
Paul begins or ends most of his Epistles with a salutation in 
the form of a wish, which is indeed a prayer, or a benediction, 
in the name of those who are so invocated; in which he 
wishes the churches ^ grace, mercy, and peace, from God the 
Father and the Lord Jesus Christ f * which is an invocation 
of Christ, in conjunction with the Father, for the greatest 
blessings of favour and mercy : that is a strange strain, if he 
was only a creature ; which yet is deHvered without any mi- 
tigation or softening in the most remarkable parts of his 
Epistles. This is carried farther in the conclusion of the Second 
Epistle to the Corinthians; ^The grace of the Lord Jesus 2 Cor. xiii. 
'^Christ, the love of God, and the fellowship of the Holy Ghost, 14. 
be with you.^ It is true this is expressed as a wish, and not 
%i the nature of a prayer, as the common salutations are : but 
^fiere three great blessings are wished to them as from three 
^fountains, which imports that they are three different Persons, 
-and yet equal : for, though in order the Father is first, and 
' is generally put first, yet, here Christ is named, which seems 
^ to be a strange reversing of things, if they are not equal as to 
^feeir essence or substance. It is true the second is not named 
^here, the Father, as elsewhere, but only God; yet, since he is 

* Rom. i. 7. Rom. xvi. 20, 24. 1 Cor. xvi. 23. 1 Cor. i. 3. 2 Cor. i. 2. 
' Gal. i. 3. Gal. vi. 18. Eph. i. 2. Eph. vi. 23. Phil. i. 2. Phil. iv. 23. 
Col. i. 2. 1 Thess. i. 1. 1 Thess. v. 28. 2 Thess. i. 2. 2 Thess. iii. 18. 
1 Tim. i. 2. 2 Tim. i. 2. Tit. i. 4. Philein. 3. 25. 2 John i. 3. 



AN EXPOSITION OF 



A R T. mentioned as distinct from Christ and the Holy Ghost^ it 
^- must be understood of the Father ; for, when the Father is 
named with Christ, sometimes he is called God simply, and 
sometimes God the Father. 

This argument from the threefold salutation appears yet 
stronger in the words in which St. John addresses himself to 
the seven churches in the beginning of the Revelations : 

Rev. i. 4, f Grace and peace from him which is, which was, and which 
is to come ; and from the seven spirits which are before his 
throne; and from Jesus Christ.' By the seven spirits must 
be meant one or more persons, since he wishes or declares 
grace and peace from them : now either this must be meant 
of angels, or of the Holy Ghost. There are no where prayers 
made, or blessings given, in the name of angels : this were 
indeed a worshipping them ; against which there are express 
authorities, not only in the other books of the New Testa^^ 
ment, but in this book in particular. Nor can it be imagined 
that angels could have been named before Jesus Christ : so 
then it remains, that, seven being a number that imports both 
variety and perfection, and that was the sacred number 
among the Jews, this is a mystical expression, which is no 
extraordinary thing in a book that is all over mysterious; and 
it imports one Person from whom all that variety of gifts, 
administrations, and operations, that were then in the church 
did flow; and this is the Holy Ghost. But as to his being 
put in order before Christ, as upon the supposition of an 
equahty, the going out of the common order is no great 
matter; so since there was to come after this a full period 
that concerned Christ, it might be a natural way of writing to 
name him last. Against all this it is objected, that the 
designation that is given to the first of these in a circumlo- 
cution that imports eternity, shews that the great God, and 
not the person of the Father, is to be meant: but then how 
could St. John, writing to the churches, wish them grace and 
peace from the other two ? A few verses after this, the same 
description of eternal duration is given to Christ, and is a 
strong proof of his eternity, and, by consequence, of his 
divinity : so what is brought so soon after as a character of 
the eternity of the Son, may be also here used to denote the 
eternal Father. These are the chief places in which the 
Trinity is mentioned all together. 

I do not insist on that contested passage of St. John's 

[ John V. Epistle ; there are great doub tings made about it ; the main 
ground of doubting being the silence of the Fathers, who 
never made use of it in the disputes with the Arians and 
Macedonians. There are very considerable things urged, on 
the other hand, to support the authority of that passage ; yet 
I think it is safer to build upon sure and indisputable 
grounds : so I leave it to be maintained by others who are 
more fuUy persuaded of its being authentical. There is no 



THE XXXIX ARTICLES. 



47 



need of it. This matter is capable of a very full proof, A R 

whether that passage is beheved to be a part of the canon, 

or not. 

It is no small confirmation of the truth of this doctrine^ 
that we are certain it was universally received over the 
whole Christian church long before there was either a Chris- 
tian prince to support it by his authority, or a council to 
estabHsh it by consent : and, indeed, the council of Nice did 
nothing but declare what was the faith of the Christian 
church, with the addition only of the word comuhstantial: 
for, if all the other words of the Creed settled at Nice are 
acknowledged to be true, that of the three Persons being of 
one substance will follow from thence by a just consequence. 
We know, both by what Tertullian and Novatian writ, what 
was the faith both of the Roman and the African churches. 
From Irenseus we gather the faith both of the Galilean and 
the Asiatic churches. And the whole proceedings in the case 
of Samosatenus,* that was the solemnest business that passed 
while the church was under oppression and persecution, give 
us the most convincing proof possible, not only of the faith 
of the eastern churches at that time, but of their zeal likewise 
in watching against every breach that was made in so sacred 
a part of their trust and depositum. 

These things have been fully opened and enlarged on by 

* Paulus Samosatenus, who flourished in the latter end of the third century, 
succeeded Demetrianus in the see of Antioch. He was at first poor, but amassed 
very considerable wealth by his corrupt practices, by his oppression of the brethren, 
by his using his patronage to advance his own interests ; — thus turning godliness 
into gain. He was, besides, a man of very immoral character, and lived in such a 
manner as proved him totally unfit to govern in the church of God. He endea- 
voured to revive the heresy of Artemon, ' which affirmed Christ to be a mere man,' 
but after his incarnation, by his improvement of the wisdom and power which were 
imparted to him, to have been made God. Eusebius quotes from a volume, writ- 
ten in his day to confute this ' blasphemous untruth,' the following in reply to the 
daring assertion of these men, that the apostles and early fathers taught this 
heresy unto the time of Victor, thirteenth bishop of Rome : ' This peradventure 
might seem to have some likelihood of truth, if it were not oppugned first by all 
the holy Scriptures, next by the books of sundry men long before the time of 
Victor, which they published against the Gentiles, and in confutation of the 
heretical opinions of their time. I mean Justin Miltiades, Tatian, and Clemens, with 
many others, in all which works Christ is preached and published to be God. Who 
knoweth not that the works of Irenaeus, INIelito, and all other Christians, do confess 
Christ to be both God and man ?' 

A Synod was held at Antioch which was attended by many distinguished bishops, 
who there 'met with the rotten sheep which corrupted the flock of Christ.' 
Samosatenus endeavoured to conceal his opinions, but his ' blasphemy against 
Christ' was laid open by many, and especially by Malchion, a very eloquent man, 
a moderator in moral discipline in the school of Antioch, and who, for his sincere , i,, 
faith in Christ, was advanced to the ministry. Paul was condemned, and a letter 
(from which some of the above is taken) was written to Dionysius and Maximus, 
bishops of Rome and Alexandria, and ' to all our fellow bishops, elders, and deacons, 
throughout the world, and to the whole universal and Catholic church under 
heaven,' in which the character of Paul is given at some length. Paul was deposed 
by the Synod, but refused to surrender the church or house until an edict was 
obtained from the emperor to expel him. He was succeeded by Domnus, the son 
of Demetrianus, Paul's predecessor, a man adorned with those gifts required in a 
bishop. — [Ed.1 



48 



AN EXPOSITION OF 



A R T. others, to whom the reader is referred ; I shall only desire 
I; him to make this reflection on the state of Christianity at 
that time ; the disputes that were then to be managed with 
the heathens, against the deifying or worshipping of men, 
and those extravagant fables concerning the genealogies of 
their heroes and gods, must have obHged the Christians 
rather to have silenced and suppressed the doctrine of the 
Trinity, than to have owned and published it: so that 
nothing but their being assured that it was a necessary and 
fundamental article of their faith, could have led them to own 
it in so public a manner; since the advantages that the 
heathen would have taken from it, must be too visible not to 
be soon observed. The heathens retorted upon them their 
doctrine of a man^s being a God, and of God's having a 
Son ; and every One who engaged in this controversy framed 
such answers to these objections as he thought he cOuld best 
maintain. This, as it gave the rise to the errors which some 
brought into the church, so it furnishes us with a copious 
proof •of the common sens« of the Christians of those ages, 
who all agreed in general to the doctrine, though they had 
many different, and some very erroneous ways of explaining 
it a?mong them. ; -i 

I now come to the special proofs concerning each df *the 
three Persons : but, there being other articles refeting tb^ the 
Son and th^ Holy Ghost, the proofs of these twa \\411 belong 
more properly to the explanation of those articles; therefore 
all that belongs to this article is to prove that the Father is 
truly God; but that needs not be much insisted on, for there 
is no dispute about it: none deny that he is God; many 
think that he is so truly God, that there is no oth^r that can 
be called God besides him, unless it be in a larger sense of the 
word : and, therefore, I will here conclude all that seems 
necessary to be said on this first article; on which if I have 
dwelt the longer, it Was because the stating the idea of God 
right being the fundamental article of all religion, and the key 
into every part of it, this was to be done with all the fulness 
and clearness possible. 

In a word, to recapitulate a little what has been safd^f the 
liveliest way of framing an idea of God is to consider our own 
souls, which are said to be made after the image of God. An 
attentive reflection on what we perceive in ourselves, wfll 
carry us farther than any other thing whatsoever, to form 
just and true thoughts of God. We perceive what thought 
is, but, with that, w& do also perceive the advantage of such 
an easy thought as arises out of a sensation, such as seeing 
or hearing, which gives us no trouble: we think, without any 
trouble, of many of the objects that we see all at once, or so 
near aU at once, that the progression from one object to 
another is scarce perceptible; but the labour of study and of 
pursuing consequences wearies us, though the pleasure or the 



THE XXXIX ARTICLES. 



49 



vanity of having found them out compensates for the pain A R T, 
they gave us, and sets men on to new inquiries. We per- ^- 
ceive in ourselves a love of truth, and a vexation when Ave see 
we are in error, or are in the dark: and we feel that we act 
the most perfectly, when we act upon the clearest views of 
truth, and in the strictest pursuance of it ; and the more pre- 
sent and regular, the more calm and stead}^, that our thoughts 
of all things are, that lie in om- compass to know, present, 
past, or to come, we do plainly perceive that we do thereby 
become perfecter and happier beings. Now out of all this 
we can easily rise up in our thoughts to an idea of a mind 
that sees all things by a clear and full intuition, without the 
possibihty of being mistaken, and that ever acts in that light, 
upon the surest prospect, and with the perfectest reason ; and 
that does therefore always rejoice in every thing it does, and 
has a constant perception of all truth ever present to it. 
This idea does so genuinely arise from what we perceive both 
of the perfections and the imperfections of our own minds, 
that a very httle reflection will hejg^ii^jgi^^lormjj^i^ \^ Pl^^Y 
high degree. 

The perception also that we have of goodness, of a desire 
to make others good, and of the pleasure of effecting it; of 
the joy of making any one wiser or better, of making any 
one^s life easy, and of raising his mind higher, will also help 
us in the forming of our ideas of God. But in this we meet 
with much difficulty and disappointment. So this leads us 
to apprehend how diffusive of itself infinite goodness must 
^needs be; and what is the eternal joy that infinite love has, 
in bringing so many to that exalted state of endless happi- 
ness. We do also feel a power, issuing from us by a thought, 
that sets our bodies in motion ; the varieties in our thoughts 
create a vast variety in the state of our bodies; but with this, 
as that power is limited to our own bodies; so it is often 
checked by disorders in them, and the soul suffers a great 
deal from those painful sensations that its union with the 
body subjects it to. From hence we can easily apprehend 
how the Supreme Mind can by a thought set matter into 
what motions it will, all matter being constantly subject to 
such impressions as the acts of the DiA^ne Mind give it. 
This absolute dominion over all matter makes it to move, 
and shapes it according to the acts of that Mind ; and matter 
has no power, by any irregularity it falls into, to resist those 
impressions which do immediately command and govern it ; 
nor can it throw any uneasy sensations into that perfect 
Being. 

Y This conduces also to give us a distinct idea of miracles. 
All matter is uniform: and it is only the variety of its 
motions and texture that makes all the variety that is in the 
world. Now, as the acts of the Eternal Mind gave matter its 
first motion, and put it into that course that we do now call 

E 



50 



AN EXPOSITION OF 



A R T. the course of nature^ so another act of the same Mind can 

^- either suspend, stop, or change that course at pleasure, as he 

who throws a bowl may stop it in its course, or throw it back 
if he will ; this being only the altering that impulse which 
himself gave : so, if one act of the infinite Mind puts things 
in a regular course, another act interposed may change that 
at pleasure. And thus with relation to God, miracles are no 
more difficult than any other act of Providence: they are 
only more amazing to us, because they are less ordinary, and 
go out of the common and regular course of things. By all 
this it appears how far the observation of what we perceive 
concerning ourselves may carry us to form liveher and clearer 
thoughts of God. > 

So Much may suffice upon Jf^^ltet artickw t-se 4feh(f3> 

.mM ^^^ -^^ c^Ib iud .iVm^ Imu^n^ ttoi nSna ion 

fjr# ^om:^^du^ smsa adi ^^ bwW m no8 srfi UdT .1 

.jfrnid^e Hb mori mid lo naiiogsd ^isdial ari^ 
dmow 9fli ni mid nonu Qjuja^t gWm iool ad indT ,11 

.9onsigdjJ8 isri io hnn ^fxigiiy bsaasld adi 
MoodaBm bnB hBodboB sdi lo ^^tuis^^ owi sdi )BdT JII 
4 i8Y9n xiosisq sno ni bsniol mid m 9w .pohdq ffiig diod 

^Bsbivib sd 

.bshifd 

-^-Tt. ^(fi olionooat 90iihos8 ijjo asv/ ad UdT .Y 

■ 'Sob lol tod ^^llfjjg feniglio lol ylno *ofi tsdi bna 
.ivv siirosaoiq sin abssJ sasife 1[o daiS 9dT 
AjR ;tjsdi ^avoiq oi bn^ ?sIoiiiJS lamiol sdi ni 
lire 9mi33 ad^ io ns:' ' - M rnsis 11^ moil 8bw 

jdT oboO '\p ««9Uo^£)§- -i sd^ ,8toqa9i 

>d J lo " ^ -rfgi9V0 giroliio.;' . ^ ^^n ,gr sno 

'-^^ nvBd ^BodB x^<^^ ^ issBdd 

- ■ 'i'lh 9,di Bsirr: :": i^mbm 

odi drnc^; 'JgitdO 

...J9§9d Ir-i v'^ ;a jsrf^ 

bfi- . 1 ixsdi 

3dcr TO, ^k?o^l Qjrfl s-fijtla sansa wi^o aiil' 

,T3i[f:ts'3; grf:^ \q sofis^gdifg 9d;f Bfie .j-^- ri^^ .iroaiaSf 

""t ^.bsiabianoo sd oak gl tj ajsw 

- ':":^-''':ooi8'[9b.rr- - ' ; .Am 

:x3 bnB o-missioBion 



THE XXXIX ARTICLES. 



51 



A R l\ 
II. 

ARTICLE IL 

Of the Word or Son of God, which was made 
> . vevY Man. 

Usiting of t!)£ dfat^er ; t^e i>ci*p antl tternal (©otr, of one ^iil)' 
£ltana toit!) tijc dfatijin-, toolfe ptau'^ Mature in tl;c Momi) of 
t][)f 33U^jgtt( SiJtrgin of ijer^ubstaiue; i^o t^at tiuo io\)oXt mxti 
perfect ^aturc^, ti^at i^t tt)t (^oUjeatl antJ ^Hanjootr, fern jcinetJ 
togttl^er in one iSer^on; neber to ht ^ibiHtti: bjereof t!^ one 
CI;n^t, berp 6otf ant( l)cr» p[an: Mjio tnilw £Ju%etf,jQag j^^^ 
mxts burietr, to reconcile dTatl^er to u^, anU to tie a Sacrifice 
not onb for (Original ^utlt, but atslo for actual ^ing of IHen. 

There are in this article five heads to be explained. 

I. That the Son or Word is of the same substance with 
the Father^ begotten of him from aU eternity. 

II. That he took man's nature upon him in the womb of 
the blessed virgin, and of her substance. 

III. That the two natures of the Godhead and manhood, 
both stiU perfect, were in him joined in one person never to 
be divided. 

IV. That Christ truly suffered, was crucified, dead, and 
buried. 

V. That he was our sacrifice to reconcile the Father to us, 
and that not only for original guilt, but for actual sins. 

The first of these leads me to prosecute what was begun 
in the former article: and to prove, that the Son or Word, 
was from aU eternity begotten of the same substance with 
the Father. It is here to be noted, that Christ is, in two 
respects, the Son, and the only-begotten Son of God. The 
one is, as he was man ; the miraculous overshadowing of the 
blessed Virgin by the Holy Ghost having, without the 
ordinary course of nature, formed the first beginnings of 
Christ's human body in the womb of the Virgin. Thus, 
that miracle being instead of a natural begetting, he may, in 
that respect, be called the begotten, and the only-begotten Son 
of God. The other sense is, that the IVord, or the divine 
Person, was in, and of, the substance of the Father, and so 
was truly God. It is also to be considered, that by the word 
one substance is to be understood that this second Person is 
not a creature of a pure and excellent nature, like God, holy 
and perfect, as we are called to be ; but is truly God, as the 
Father is. Begetting is a term that naturally signifies the 
relation between the Father and the Son ; but, what it strictly 
signifies here is not possible for us to understand, till we 

E 2 



52 



AN EXPOSITION OF 



ART. comprehend this whole matter : nor can we be able to assign 
a reason why the emanation of the Son, and not that of the 
Holy Ghost likewise^ is called begetting. In this we use the 
scripture terms, but must confess we cannot frame a distinct 
apprehension of that which is so far above us. This beget- 
ting was from all eternity : if it had been in time, the Son 
• and Holy Ghost must have been creatures ; but, if they are 

truly God, they must be eternal, and not produced by having 
a being given them, but educed of a substance that was 
eternal, and from which they did eternally spring. All these 
are the natural consequences of the main article that is now 
to be proved ; and, when it is once proved clearly from scrip- 
ture, these do follow by a natural and necessary deduction. 
John 1. 1 , The first and great proof of this is taken from the words 
' * with which St. John begins his Gospel.* ^ In the beginning 
was the Word, and the Word was with God, and the Word 
was God; the same was in the beginning mth God. All 
things were made by him, and without him was not any thing 
made that was made.^ Here it is to be observed, that these 
words are set down here, before St. John comes to speak of 
Christ's being made in our nature : this passage belongs to 
another precedent being that he had. The beginning also here is 
set to import, that it was before creation or time : now a dura- 
tion before time is eternal. So this beginning can be no other 
than that duration which was before all things that were made. 
It is also plainly said, over and over again, that all things ivere 
made by this Word, A power to create must be infinite ; for, 
it is certain, that a power which can give being is without 
bounds. And, although the word make may seem capable of 
a larger sense, yet, as in other places of the New Testament, 
the stricter word create is used and applied to Christ, as the 
Colos. i. <^ Maker of all things in heaven and earth, visible and invisible 

so the word make is used through the Old Testament for 
Tsai.xl. create ; so that God's making the heaven and the earth is the 
xu'v^2*4 character frequently given of him to distinguish him from 
xiv. 5, &c. idols and false gods. And of this Word it is likewise said, 
xiviii. 12, that he was ivith God, and was God. These words seem very 
13 Jer^x' P^^i^^ place where they are put by St. John, in the 

i -i6.Acts ^^oi^t of his Gospel, as it were an inscription upon it, or an 
iv. 24, 25. introduction to it, makes it very evident, that he, who of all 
the writers of the New Testament has the greatest plainness 
and simplicity of style, would not have put words here, such 
as were not to be understood in a plain and literal significa- 
tion, without any key to lead us to any other sense of them. 
This had been to lay a stone of stumbling in the very threshold ; 
particularly to the Jews, who were apt to cavil at Christianity, 
and were particularly jealous of every thing that savoured of 
idolatry, or of the plurality of gods. And upon this occasion 

* For a full and critical examination of this passage, see Pearson on the Creed, 
page 177, Dobson's Edition. 



THE XXXIX ARTICLES. 



53 



I desire one thing to be observed^ with relation to all those A R T. 
subtile expositions which those who oppose this doctrine put 
upon many of those places by which we prove it ; that they 
represent the apostles as magnifying Christ in words that at 
first sound seem to import his being the true God ; and yet 
they hold that in all these they had another sense^ and a re- 
serve of some other interpretation, of which their words were 
capable. But can this be thought fair deahng ? Does it look 
like honest men to write thus ; not to say, men inspired in 
what they preached and writ ? and not rather Hke impostors, 
to use so many subhme and lofty expressions concerning 
Christ as God, if all these must be taken down to so low a 
sense, as to signify only that he was miraculously formed, and 
endued with an extraordinary power of miracles, and an 
authority to dehver a new religion to the world ; and that he 
was, in consideration of his exemplary death which he under- 
went so patiently, raised up from the grave, and had divine 
honours conferred upon him. In such an hypothesis as this, 
the world going in so naturally to the excessive magnifjdng, 
and even the deifying of wonderful men, it had been necessary 
to have prevented any sucli mistakes, and to have guarded 
against the belief of them rather than to have used a continued 
strain of expressions, that seem to carry men violently into 
them, and that can hardly, nay very hardly, be softened by all 
the sldll of critics, to bear any other sense. It is to be con- 
sidered farther, that, when St. John vn:it his Gospel, there 
were three sorts of men particularly to be considered. The 
Jews, who could bear nothing that savoured of idolatry; so 
no stumbling-block was to be laid in their way, to give them 
deeper prejudices against Christianity. Next to these were 
the Gentiles ; who, having worshipped a variety of gods, were 
not to be indulged in any thing that might seem to favour their 
polytheism. In fact, we find particular caution used, in the 
New Testament, against the worshipping angels or saints. Matt, i v. 
How can it therefore be imagined, that words wauld have been j^j^j^^^"''' 
used, that, in the plain signification that did arise out of the Acts x. 25, 
first hearing of them, imported that a man was God, if this 26.xiv.i4, 
had not been strictly true ? The apostles ought, and must, ^0"'^ 
have used a particular care to have avoided all such expres- xxii. 8, 9. 
sions, if they had not been literally true. The third sort of 
men in St. John^s time were those, of whom intimation is 
frequently given through all the Epistles, who were then 
endeavouring to corrupt the purity of the Christian doctrine^ 
and to accommodate it so, both to the Jew and to the Gen- 
tile, as to avoid the cross and persecution upon the account 
of it. Church-history, and the earhest writers after St. John, 
assure us, that Ebion* and Cerinthus* denied the divinity of 

* W hence the Ebionites derived their name is uncertain. According- to some 
they were so called from the founder of their sect, Ebion. Eusebius states that 
they were "called Ebionites, i. e. poor men, for they were poor and abject, in 



54 



AN EXPOSITION OF 



A R T. Christy and asserted that he was a mere man. Controversy 
^ naturally carries men to speak exactly ; and^ among human 
writers^ those who let things fall more carelessly from their 
pens^ when they apprehend no danger or difficulty^ are more 
correct both in their thoughts and in their expressions^ when 
things are disputed; therefore^ if we should have no other 
regard to St. John^ but as an ordinary^ cautious^ and careful 
man, we must believe that he weighed aU his words in that 
point, which was then the matter in question ; and to clear 
which, we have good ground to believe, both from the testi- 
mony of ancient writers, and from the method that he pursues 
quite through it all, that he writ his Gospel ; and that, there- 
fore, every part of it, but this beginning of it more signally, 
was writ, and is to be understood, in the sense which the 
words naturally import ; that the Word which took flesh, and 
assumed the human nature, had a being before the worlds were 
made, and that this Word vjas God, and made the ivorld, 
Phil. ii. Another eminent proof of this is in St. PauFs Epistle to 
the Philippians ; in which, when he is exhorting Christians 
to humility, he gives an argument for it from our Saviour^s 
example. He begins with the dignity of his person, ex- 
pressed thus ; ^ that he was in the form of God, and that he 
thought it no robbery to be equal with God :^ then his humi- 



delivering the doctrine concerning Christ.' They judged him 'a simple and a com- 
mon man ; and for his forwardness of manners found justified only as man, and 
born of Mary and her husband.' They thought that the observance of the law was 
necessary, ' as though salvation were not by faith alone in Christ, and corresponding 
conversation of life.' Others of the same name, according to Eusebius, avoided 
the absurdity of their speeches ; not denying the Lord to have been born of the 
Virgin, and the Holy Ghost ; yet, when called on to confess him to be God, the 
Word and Wisdom before his incarnation, they fell into the same sin with their 
companions. They contended for the ' corporal observation of the law ;' rejected 
the epistles of the apostle Paul, and accused him of having fallen from the law. 
They used a gospel of their own, indiscriminately called the gospel of the Nazarines 
or Hebrews, about which there have been many disputes amongst the learned. They 
observed the Jewish Sabbaths and other ceremonies, only they observed Sunday, in 
like manner as the Christians, in remembrance of the resurrection of Christ. They 
are generally placed among the heretics of the apostolic age ; ' yet (remarks Dr. 
Mosheim) they really belong to the second century, which was the earliest period 
of their existence as a sect.' 

Cerinthus was a Jew, who attempted to form a nevt^ system, by a combination of 
the doctrines of Christ with the opinions and errors of the Jews and Gnostics. He 
taught the necessity of circumcision, and that the Prophets and law were given by 
angeis, and that the world was made by them. He maintained that Jesus was not 
born of a virgin, which he affirmed to be impossible, but of Mary and Joseph — that 
Jesus was not Christ, but that Christ came upon him in the form of a dove — that 
Jesus suffered and rose again, but not Christ ; for Christ, he said, fled away from 
him before his passion , He taught that the kingdom of Christ should become earthly 
— that after the resurrection, Christ shouldreign over us on earth one thousand years. 
He lusted, saith Eusebius, after the satisfying of the belly with meat, drink, and mar- 
riage; to which he arlded, holy days, oblations, and slaughter for sacrifices. Such 
was the millenium Vihieh he held out to his followers, irenseus relates, on the 
authority of Pol-jcarp, that St. John having gone to a public bath, and hearing that 
Cerinthus was there, returned hastily, saying, ' Let us speedily go hence, lest the 
bath come to ruin, wherein Cerinthus, the enemy of the truth, batheth himself.' ' So 
zealous (remarks Eusebius) were the apostles and their disciples, that they commu- 
nicated not even in word with the corrupters of the truth.' — [Ed.] 



THE XXXIX ARTICLES. 



55 



liation comes, that he ^ made himself of no reputation, but ART. 
took on him the form of a servant/ (the same word with that 
used in the former verse :) after which follows his exaltation, 
and a name or authority above every name or authority is said 
to be given him ; so that ^ all in heaven, earth, and under the 
earth (which seems to import angels, men, and devils), should 
boAV at his name, and confess that he is the Lord.^ Now, in 
this progress that is made in these words, it is plain that the 
dignit)^ of Christ^s person is represented as antecedent both, 
to his humiliation and to his exaltation. It was that which 
put the value on his humiliation, as his humihation was re- 
warded by his exaltation. This dignity is expressed first, that 
he was in the form of God^ before he humbled himself : he 
was certainly in the form of a servant, that is, reaUy a servant, 
as other servants are ; he was obedient to his parents, he was 
under the authority both of the Romans, of Herod, and of the 
sanhedrim : therefore since his being reaUy a servant is ex- 
pressed by his being in the form of a servant, his being in the 
form of God must also import that he was truly God. But the 
following words, that he thought it not robbery to be equal, 
or be held equal (for so the word may be rendered) with God, 
carry such a natural signification of his being neither a made 
nor subordinate God, and that his divinity is neither precari- 
ous nor by concession, that fuUer words cannot be devised for 
expressing an entire equality. Those who deny this are aware 
of it, and therefore they have put another sense on the words, 
in the form of God. They think, that they signify his appear- 
ing in the world, as one sent in the name of God, represent- 
ing him, working miracles, and delivering a law in his name : 
and the words rendered, he thought it no robbery, they render, 
he did not catch at, or vehemently desire to be held in equal 
honour with God. And some authorities are found, in eloquent 
Greek authors, who use the words rendered, he thought it not 
robbery, in a figurative sense, for the earnestness of desire, 
or the pursuing after a thing greedily, as robbers do for their 
prey. This rendering represents St. Paul as treating so sacred 
a point in the figures of a high and seldom used rhetoric, 
which, one would think, ought to have been expressed more 
exactly. But, if even this sense is allowed, it will make a 
strange period, and a very odd sort of an argument, to enforce 
humility upon us, because Christ, though working miracles, 
did not desire, or snatch at, divine adorations, in an equahty 
mth God. The sin of Lucifer, and the cause of his fall, is 
commonly believed to be his desire to be equal to God; 
and yet this seems to be such an extravagant piece of pride, 
that it is scarce possible to think that even the subfimest 
of created beings should be capable of it. To be next 
to God seems to be the utmost height to which even the 
diabohcal pride could aspire: so that here, by the sense 
which the Socinians put on those words, they will import. 



56 



AN EXPOSITION OF 



Rev. XIX 
16. 



A R T. that we are persuaded to be humble from the example of 
J I- Christy who did not affect an equahty with God ! the bare 
repeating of this seems so fully to expose and overthrow it^, 
that I think it is not necessary to say more upon this place. 

The next head of proof is made up of more particulars. AU 
the names, the operations, and even the attributes, of God, 
are in fall and plain words given to Christ. He is called 
Acts XX. God; his blood is said to be the blood of God; God is said 
i^iohn iii ^^^^ ^^^^ doivn Ms life for us ; Christ is called the true God, 
16. ' the great God, the Lord of glory, the King of kings, and the 
1 Jolin V. Lord of lords ; and, more particularly, the name Jehovah 
ii 13 ascribed to him in the same word in which the LXX inter- 
Jam, ii. 1. preters had translated it throughout the whole Old Testament. 
Rev. i. 8. So that this constant uniformity of style between the Greek 
of the New, and that translation of the Old Testament which 
was then received, and was of great authority among the Jews, 
and was yet of more authority among the first Christians, is 
an argument that carries such a weight mth it, that this alone 
may serve to determine the matter. The creating, the pre- 
serving, and the governing, of all things, is also ascribed to 
Christ in a variety of places, but most remarkably, when it is 
Col. i. 16, said, that ^by him were aU created, that are in heaven and 
Johnii 25 earth, visible and invisible, whether they be thrones. 

Matt. xi. * or dominions, or principalities, or powers : aU things were 
27. created by him, and for him : and he is before all things, and 
John xv^*^^ him all things consist.^ He is said to have known what 
26. was in man, to have known men^s secret thoughts, and to 
John xiv. have known aU things that ^ as the Father was known of none 
John V 25 ^o\i, SO none knew the Son but the Father.^ He 

26. ' ^ pardons sin, sends the Spirit, gives grace and eternal life, and 
John vi. he shall raise the dead at the last day.^ When aU these things 
are laid together in that variety of expressions, in which they 
lie scattered in the New Testament, it is not possible to retain 
any reverence for those books, if we imagine that they are 
writ in a style so full of approaches to the deifying of a mere 
man, that, without a very critical studying of languages and 
phrases, it is not possible to understand them otherwise. 
Idolatry, and a plurality of gods, seem to be the main things 
that the scriptures warn us against ; and yet here is a pursued 
thread of passages and discourses, that do naturally lead a 
man to think that Christ is the true God, who yet, according 
to these men, only acted in his name, and has now a high 
honour put on him by him. 

This carries me to another argument to prove that the Word 
that was made flesh was truly God. Nothing but the true 
God can be the proper object of adoration. This is one of 
those truths that seems almost so evident, that it needs not 
to be proved. Adoration is the humble prostration of our- 
selves before God, in acts that own our dependence upon him, 
both for our being, and for all the blessings that we do either 



39, 40. 



THE XXXIX ARTICLES. 



57 



enjoy or hope for, and also in earnest prayers to him for the ART. 

continuance of these to us. This is testified by such out\yard 

gestures and actions as are most proper to express our humi- 
litv and submission to God: all this has so clear and so insepa- 
rable a relation to the only true God, as its proper object, that 
it is scarce possible to apprehend how it should be separated 
from him, and given to any other. And, as this seems exi- 
dent from the nature of things, so it is not possible to imagine 
how any thing could have been prohibited in more express 
and positive, and in more frequently-repeated words, and 
longer reasonings, than the offering of di^dne worship, or any 
part of it, to creatures. The chief design of the Mosaical 
rehgion was to banish all idolatry and polytheism out of the 
minds of the Jews, and to possess them with the idea of one 
God, and of one object of worship. The reasons upon which 
those prohibitions are founded are imiversal ; which are, the 
unity of God^s essence, and his jealousy in not giving his 
honour to another. It is not said that they should not wor- 
ship any as God, till they had a precept or declaration for it. 
There is no reserve for any such time ; but they are plainly 
forbid to worship any but the great God, because he was one, 
and was jealous of his glory. The New Testament is T^Tit in 
the same strain : Christ, when tempted of the Devil, answered, 
^ Thou shalt worship the Lord thy God, and him only shalt ^latt. iv. 
thou serve.-' The apostles charged all idolaters to forsake ^^^^^ ^.^ 
those idols and to serve the h^dng God.' The angel refused 15. 
St. John^s worship, commanding him to ^ worship God^. The Acts xvii. 
Christian faith does, in eYerj particular, raise the ideas of . 
God and of rehgion to a much greater purity and subhmit}' 9. 
than the Mosaical dispensation had done; so it is not to be Rev. xix. 
imagined, that in the chief design of revealed rehgion, which 
was the bringing men from idolatry to the worship of one God, 
it should make such a breach, and extend it to a creature. All 
this seems fully to prove the first proposition of this argument, 
that God is the only proper object of adoration. The next is, 
that Christ is proposed in the New Testament as the object 
of divine worship. I do not in proof of this urge the instances 
of those who fell dovm at Christ's feet and worshipped him, 
while he was on earth : for it may be well answered to that, 
that, a prophet was worshipped with the civil respect of falhng 
down before him, among the Jews ; as appears in the history 
of Ehjah and Ehsha : nor does it appear that those who vror- 
shipped Christ had any apprehension of his being God ; they 
only considered him as the Messias, or as some eminent pro- 
phet. But the mention that St. Luke makes in his Gospel, Lukexxiv.. 
of the disciples worshipping Christ at his ascension, comes 
more home to this matter. All those salutations in the be- 
ginning and conclusion of the Epistles, in which ^ grace, mercy, 
and peace' are ■\;\ished ^from God the Father, and the Lord 
Jesus Christ,' are imnhed invocations of him. It is also plain. 



58 



AN EXPOSITION OF 



A R T. that it was to him that St. Paul prayed, Avhen he was under 
the temptations of the Devil^ as they are commonly under- 
2 Cor."xiL stood ; ' Every knee must bow to him : the angels of God 
8, 9. worship him all the hosts in heaven are represented in St. 
Heb i' 6^ John's visions as falhng down prostrate before him^ and wor- 
Rev. v.e. shipping him as they worship the Father. He is proposed as 
to the end. the object of our faith^ hope^ and love ; as the Person whom 
we are to obey, to pray to, and to praise ; so that every act of 
worship, both external and internal, is directed to him as to 
its proper object. But the instance of aU others, that is the 
clearest in this point, is in the last words of St. Stephen, who 
was the first martyr, and whose martyrdom is so particularly 
related by St. Luke : he then in his last minutes saw Christ 
at the right hand of God ; and in his last breath he worshipped 
him in two short prayers, that are, upon the matter, the same 
with those in which our blessed Saviour worshipped his Father 
59^6o' cross; ^Lord Jesus, receive my spirit: Lord, lay not 

' ' this sin to their charge.' From this it seems very evident, 
that, if Christ was not the true God, and equal to the Father, 
then this proto-martyr died in two acts that seem not only 
idolatrous, but also blasphemous ; since he worshipped Christ 
in the same acts in which Christ had worshipped his Father. 
It is certain, from all this deduction of particulars, that his 
human nature cannot be worshipped; therefore there must be 
another nature in him, to which divine worship is due, and on 
the account of which he is to be worshipped. 

It is plain, that when this religion was first published, to- 
gether with these duties in it as a part of it, the Jews, though 
implacably set against it, yet never accused it of idolatry ; 
though that charge, of aU others, had served their purposes 
the best who intended to blacken and blast it. Nothing 
would have been so well heard, and so easily apprehended, as 
a just prejudice against it, as this. The argument would have 
appeared as strong as it was plain : and as the Jews could not 
be ignorant of the acts of the Christian worship, when so many 
fell back to them from it who were offended at other parts of 
it : so they had the books, in which it was contained, in their 
hands. Notwithstanding all which, we have aU possible reason 
to believe that, this objection against it was never made by 
any of them, in the first age of Christianity : upon all which, 
I say, it is not to be imagined that they could have been 
silent on this head, if a mere man had been thus proposed 
among the Christians as the object of divine worship. The 
silence of the apostles, in not mentioning nor answering this, 
is such a proof of the silence of the Jews, that it would indeed 
disparage all their writings, if we could think, that, while they 
mentioned and answered the other prejudices of the Jews, 
which in comparison to this are small and inconsiderable mat- 
ters, they should have passed over this, which must have been 
the greatest and the plausiblest of them all, if it was one at 



THE XXXIX ARTICLES. 



59 



all. Therefore, as the silence of the apostles is a clear proof A R T. 
that the Jews were silent also^ and did not object this ; and 
since their silence could neither flow from their ignorance, 
nor their undervaluing of this religion ; it seems to be certain, 
that the first opening of the Christian doctrine did not carry 
any thing in it that could be caUed the worshipping of a 
creature. It follows from hence^ that the Jews must have 
understood this part of our religion in such a manner as 
agreed with their former ideas. So we must examine these : 
they had this settled among them^ that God dwelt in the 
cloud of glory, and that, by virtue of that inhabitation, divine 
worship was paid to God as dwelling in the cloud; that it 
was called God, God^s Throne, his Holiness, his Face, and the 
Light of his Countenance : they went up to the temple to 
worship God, as dwelling there bodily, that is substantially, 
so bodily sometimes signifies, or in a corporeal appearance. 
This seems to have been a Person that was truly God, and 
yet was distinct from that which appeared and spake to 
Moses ; for this seems to be the importance of these words : 
^ Behold, I send an angel before thee to keep thee in the way, Exod.xxiii. 
and to bring thee to the place which I have prepared : beware 20, 21. 
of him, and obey his voice, provoke him not ; for he vnll not 
pardon your transgressions : for my name is in him.^ These 
words do plainly import a person to whom they belong ; 
and yet they are a pitch far above the angelical dignity. So 
that angel must here be understood, in a large sense, for one 
sent of God ; and ic can admit of no sense so properly, as, 
that the eternal Word, which dwelt afterwards in the man 
Christ Jesus, dwelt then in that cloud of glory. It was also 
one of the prophecies received by the Jews, ^ that the glory Hag. ii. 9. 
of the second temple was to exceed the glory of the first.^ 
The chief character of the glory of the first was that inhabita- 
tion of the divine presence among them; from hence it 
follows, that such an inhabitation of God in a creature, by 
which that creature was not only called God, but that adora- 
tion was due to it upon that account, was a notion that 
could not have scandalized the Jews, and was indeed the only 
notion that agreed with their former ideas, and that could 
have been received by them without difficulty or opposition. 
This is a strong inducement to believe that this great article 
of- our religion was at that time delivered and understood in 
that sense. 

If the Son or TVord is truly God, he must be from all 
eternity, and must also be of the same substance with the 
Father, otherwise he could not be God ; since a God of an- 
other substance, or of another duration, is a contradiction. 

The last argument that I shall off*er is taken from the be- 
ginning of the Epistle to the Hebrews : to the apprehending 
the force of which, this must be premised, that all those who 
acknowledge that Christ ought to be honoured and wor- 



60 



AN EXPOSITION OF 



ART, shipped as the Father^ must say that this is due to him either 
because he is truly God : or because he is a person of such a 
high and exalted dignity^ that God has^ upon the considera- 
tion of that^ appointed him to be so worshipped. Now this 
second notion may fall under another distinction ; that either 
he was of a very sublime order by nature^ as some angelical 
beings that though he was created^ yet had this high privilege 
bestowed upon him: or that he was a prophet illuminated 
and authorized in so particular a manner beyond all others^ 
that, out of a regard to that^ he was exalted to this honour of 
being to be worshipped. One of these must be chosen by 
aU who do not believe him to be truly God : and indeed one 
of these was the Arian^* as the other is the Socinian^f hypo- 

X * Arius, a Presbyter of Alexandria, a 'man very skilful in the subtilties of so- 
phistical logic,' and remarkable for his eloquence, arose in the beginning of the 
fourth century. He entered the field of controversy against his bishop, Alexander 
of Alexandria, who, in his discourses, treated the doctrine of the Trinity, and of the 
unity in the Trinity, ' somewhat too curiously.' Arius suspected Alexander of a,n 
intention to revive the heresy of Sabeilius;(who maintained that the three persons 
in the Trinity were one, but differed from his master Naetus in that Sabellius did 
not allege that the Father suffered), and opposed him with much zeal, and too much 
of the spirit of contention. His opposition led into the opposite extreme, and he 
laid down his doctrine thus :— * If the Father begat the Son, then had the Son, 
which was begotten, a beginning of essence; hereby it is maintained that there 
f was a time when the Son was not, and consequently that he had his essence of 
nothing.' Frorn this it appears that he separated the Son from the Father. He 
held the Son to be the highest of beings whom the Father had created, and by 
whom he made the worlds — consequently inferior to the Father, not only as touch- 
ing his manhood, but also as to his godhead. The first general Council was sum- 
moned and assembled at Nice, in the year 325, in consequence of the manner in 
wMch this destructive heresy spread throughout the empire. At that famous 
council was this antichristian heresy condemned ; and a creed drawn up, and after- 
wards at the Council of Constantinople adopted and enlarged, which is held by, 
and read in the communion service of, the Church of England. Arius was excom- 
municated, and died at Constantinople, according to the testimony of Socrates 
Scholasticus, a most wretched death. — [Ed.] i',^, 

f ' The Socinians are said to have derived this denomination from the illustrious 
family of the Sozzini, which flourished a long time at Sienna in Tuscany, and 
produced several great and eminent men, and among others Lselius and Faustus 
Socinus, who are commonly supposed to have been the founders of this sect. The 
former was the son of Marianus, a famous lawyer, and was himself a man of uncom- 
mon genius and learning ; to which he added, as his very enemies are obliged to 
acknowledge, the lustre of a virtuous life, and of unblemished manners. Being 
forced to leave his country, in the year 1547, on account of the disgust he had 
conceived against popery, he travelled through France, England, Holland, Ger- 
many, and Poland, in order to examine the religious sentiments of those who had 
thrown off the yoke of Rome, and thus at length to come at the truth. After this 
he settled at Zurich, where he died in the year 1562, before he had arrived at the 
fortieth year of his age. His mild and gentle disposition rendered him averse 
from whatever had the air of contention and discord. He adopted the Helvetic 
confession of faith, and professed himself a member of the church of Switzerland ; 
but this did not engage him to conceal entirely the doubts he had formed in rela- 
tion to certain points of religion, and which he communicated, in effect, by letter, 
to some learned men, whose judgment he respected, and in whose friendship he 
could confide. His sentiments were indeed propagated, in a more public manner, 
after his death ; since Faustus, his nephew and his heir, is supposed to have drawn 
from the papers he left behind him that religious system upon which the sect of 
the Socinians was founded. 

' It is, however, to be observed, that this denomination does not always convey the 
same idea, since it is susceptible of different significations, and is, in effect, used 
sometimes in a more strict and proper, and at others in a more improper and 



THE XXXIX ARTICLES. 



61 



thesis. For how much soever the Arians might exalt him in ART. 
words^ yet if they beheved him to be a creature made in l^- 
time^ so that once he was not ; all that they said of him can 
amount to no more^ but that he was a creature of a spiritual 
nature ; and this is plainly the notion which the scripture 
gives us of angels. Ai'temon, Samosatenus^ Photinus, and 
the Socinians in our days, consider our Saviour as a great 
prophet and lawgiver, and into this they resolve his dignity. 
In opposition to both these, that Epistle begins with expres- 
sions that are the more severe, because they are negative, 
which are to be understood more strictly than positive words. 
Christ is not only preferred to angels, but is set in opposition 
to them, as one of another order of beings. '^Made so much Heb.i.4, 
better than angels, as he hath by inheritance obtained a 
more excellent name than they. For unto which of the 5, 
angels said he at any time. Thou art my Son, this day have I 
begotten thee ? When he bringeth in the first begotten into 6, 
the world, he saith. And let aU the angels of God worship him. 
Of the angels he saith. Who maketh his angels spirits, and 7, 
his ministers a flame of fire. But unto the Son he saith. Thy 8, 
throne, O God, is for ever and ever. And, Thou, Lord, in 10, 
the beginning hast laid the foundation of the earth : and the 
heavens are the works of thy hands. Thou art the same, and 12, 
thy years shall not fail. But to which of the angels said he 13, 
at any time, Sit on my right hand, till I make thine enemies 
thy footstool ? Are they not all ministering spirits, sent 14. 
forth to minister for them who shall be heirs of salvation?' 



extensive sense. For, according to the usual manner of speaking, all are termed 
Socinians whose sentiments bear a certain afl&nity to the system of Socinus ; and 
they are more especially ranked in that class, who either boldly deny, or artfully 
explain away, the doctrines that assert the Divine nature of Christ, and a Trinity of 
persons in the Godhead. But, in a strict and proper sense, they only are deemed 
the members of this sect who embrace wholly, or wath a few exceptions, the form 
of theological doctrine which Faustus Socinus either drew up himself, or received 
from his uncle, and delivered to the Unitarian brethren, or Socinians, in Poland 
and Transylvania. 

' The sum of their theology is as follows ; — " God, who is infinitely more perfect 
than man, though of a similar nature in some respects, exerted an act of that 
power by which he governs all things ; in consequence of which an extraordinary 
person vras born of the Virgin Mary. That person was Jesus Christ, whom God 
first translated to heaven by that portion of his divine power which is called the 
Holy Ghost ; and having instructed him fully there in the knowledge of his will, 
counsels, and designs, sent him again into this sublunary world, to promulgate to 
mankind a new rule of life, more excellent than that under which they had for- 
merly lived, to propagate divine truth by his ministry, and to confirm it by his 
death. 

' " Those who obey the voice of this Divine Teacher (and this obedience is in 
the power of every one whose will and inclination leads that way), shall one day 
be clothed with new bodies, and inhabit eternally those blessed regions, where God 
himself immediately resides. Such, on the contrary, as are disobedient and rebel- 
lious shall undergo most terrible and exquisite torments, which shall be succeeded 
by annihilation, or the total extinction of their being." 

' The whole system of Socinianism, when stripped of the embellishments and 
commentaries with which it has been loaded and disguised by its doctors, is really 
reducible to the few propositions now mentioned.' Mosheim — [Ed.] 



62 



AN EXPOSITION OF 



A H T. This opposition is likewise carried on through the whole 
II. second chapter; one passage in it being most express to 
shew both that his nature had a subsistence before his incar- 
nation^ and that it was not of an angehcal order of beings^ 
Chap. ii. since he '^took not on him the nature of angels^ but the seed 
I®* of Abraham/ Thus^ in a great variety of expressions, the 
conceit of Christ^s being of an angelical nature is very fully 
condemned. From that the writer goes next to the notion 
of his being to be honoured, because he was an eminent prjQr 
phet; on which he enters with a very solemn preface, inviting 
Chap, iii. them to ' consider the apostle and high-priest of our profes- 
I- sion t' then he compares Moses to him, as to the point of 
being '^faithful to him who had appointed him/ But how 
eminent soever Moses was above afl other prophets, and how 
harshly soever it must have sounded to the Jews to hay^ 
stated the difference in terms so distant as that of a servant 
and a son, of one who built the house, waA of the house itself ; 
yet we see the apostle does not only prefer Christ to Moses^ 
but puts him in another order and rank; which could not be 
done according to the Socinian hypothesis. From all which 
this conclusion naturally follows,— that if Christ is to be wor- 
shipped, and that this honour belongs to him neither as an 
angel, nor as a prophet, that then it is due to him because he 
is trxily God. 

The second branch of this article is, that he took man's 
nature upon him in th^ womb of the blessed Virgin, and of 
her substance. This will not need any long or laboured prool, 
since the texts of scripture are so express that nothing but 
wild extravagance can withstand them. Christ was in all 
things like unto us, except his miraculous conception by the 
Virgin: he was the son of Abraham and of David. But 
among the frantic humours that appeared at the Reformation^ 
some, in opposition to the superstition of the church of 
Rome, studied to derogate as much from the blessed Virgin 
on the one hand, as she had been over-exalted on the other : 
so they Said, that Christ had only gone through her. But this 
impiety sunk so soon, that it is needless to say any thing 
more to refute it. 

The third branch of the Article is, that these two natures 
were joined in one Person, never to be divided. What a person 
is that results from a close conjunction of two natures, we 
can only judge of by considering man, in whom there is a 
material and a spiritual nature joined together. They are 
two natures as different as any we can apprehend among all 
created beings ; yet these make but one man. The matter of 
which the body is composed does not subsist by itself, is not 
under all those laws of motion to which it would be subject, 
if it were mere inanimated matter ; but, by the indwelling tofl 
actuation of the soul, it has another spring within it, and has 
another course of operations. According to this, then, to 



THE XXXIX ARTICLES. 



63 



subsist by another is when a being is acting according to its A R T. 

natural properties, but yet in a constant dependance upon [[^ 

another being ; so our bodies subsist by the subsistence of 
our souls. This may help us to apprehend how that as the 
body is still a body, and operates as a body, though it sub- 
sists by the indwelling and actuation of the soul ; so in the 
person of Jesus Christ the human nature was entire, and still 
acted according to its own character ; yet there was such an 
union and inhabitation of the eternal Word in it, that there did 
arise out of that a communication of names and characters, as 
we find in the scriptures. A man is called taU, fair, and 
healthy, from the state of his body ; and learned, wise, and 
good, from the quahties of his mind: so Christ is called 
holy, harmless, and undefiled ; is said to have died, risen, and 
ascended up into heaven, with relation to his human nature: 
he is also said to be in ^the form of God, to have created all ^^j'^jg* 
things, to be the brightness of the Father's glory, and the Heb/i.3. 
Express image of his person,^ with relation to his divine 
likture. The ideas that we have of what is material, and 
#hat is spiritual, lead us to distinguish in a man those de- 
scriptions that belong to his body from those that belong to 
his mind ; so the different apprehensions that we have 
what is created and uncreated must be our thread to guidi3;S§ 
into the resolution of those various expressions that occur M 
€he scriptures concerning Christ. 

\V The design of the definition, that was made by the chiirMi 
concerning Christ's having one person, was chiefly to distin- 
guish the nature of the indwelling of the Godhead in hirii 
from all prophetical inspirations. The Mosaical degree of 
prophecy was in many respects superior to that of all the 
subsequent prophets : yet the difference is stated between 
Christ and Moses, in terms that import things quite of an- 
other nature; the one being mentioned as a servant, the 
other as the Son that built the house. It is not said that 
God appeared to Christ, or that he spoke to him ; but God 
Ivas ever with him, and in him; and while ^ the Word was John i. 14, 
iiaade flesh,' yet still ^his glory was as the glory of the only- J^^^- 
begotten Son of God.' The glory that Isaiah saw, was called jq^^ 
Ms glory ; and on the other hand, God is said to have pur- 41. 
€hased his church with his own blood. If Nestorius,* in Actsxx.28. 

B f'i^' lS^BtativiSfWtlS^otxhovi^ much eloquence, but of a very arro- 

giuat and overbearing disposition, vs^as a native of Germany, and a Presbyter of 
Antioch. On the death of Sisinius, bisbop of Constantinople, he was sent for by 
the emperor Theodosius, and appointed to that see. He so persecuted the Arians, 
that they destroyed by fire their ovm churches, rather than suffer thera to fall into 
his hands. But although so zealous against heresy and heretics, yet he does not 
appear to have been much influenced by the truth vphich he professed to uphold. 
He brought with him from Antioch a certain Presbyter, named Anastasius, who 
declaimed much against the use of the term horoxog as applied to the Virgin Mary, 
and contended that she ought to be called the Mother of Christ, and not the 
Mother of God. Nestorius'- warmly espoused the cause of Anastasius ; and was 
accused of maintaining that in Christ the divine was superadded to the human 



64 



AN EXPOSITION OF 



A R T. opposing tliis^ meant only, as some think it appears by many 
citations out of him, that the blessed Virgin was not to be 
called simply the Mother of God, but the Mother of him that 
was God ; and if that of making two persons in Christ was 
only fastened on him as a consequence, we are not at all 
concerned in the matter of fact, whether Nestorius was mis- 
understood and hardly used, or not; but the doctrine here 
asserted is plain in the scriptures, that, though the human 
nature in Christ acted still according to its proper character, 
and had a peculiar will, yet, there was such a constant pre^ 
sence, indwelUng, and actuation on it from the eternal Word, 
as did constitute both human and divine nature one Person. 
As these are thus so entirely united, so they are never to be 
separated. Christ is now exalted to the highest degrees of 
glory and honour ; and the characters of blessing, honour, and 
glory, are represented^ in St. John^s visions, as offered /to 
Rev.v. 13. the Lamb for ever and ever.^ It is true, St. Paul speaks as 
if Christ's mediatory office and kingdom were to cease after 
the day of judgment, and that then he was to dehver up all 
1 Cor. XV. to the Father. For though, when the fuU number of the elect 
24—28, shall be gathered, the full end of his death will be attained; 
and when these saints shall be glorified with him and by him, 
his office as Mediator will naturally come to an end ; yet his 
own personal glory shall never cease : and if every saint shall 
inherit an everlasting kingdom, much more shall he who has 
merited all that to them, and has conferred it on :them, be for 
ever possessed of his glory. 

The fourth branch of the Article is concerning the truth of 
Christ's crucifixion, his death and burial. The matter of fact 
concerning the death of Christ is denied by no Christian; 
the Jews do all acknowledge it ; the first enemies to Chris- 
tianity did all beUeve this, and reproached his followers with 
it. This was that which all Christians gloried in and avowed; 
so that no question was made of his death, except by a small 
number called Docetce, who were not esteemed Christians, till 
Mahomet denied it in his Alcoran, who pretends that he was 
withdrawn, and that a Jew was crucified in his stead. But 
this corruption of the history of the gospel came too late 
afterwards, to have any shadow of credit due to it ; nor was 
there any sort of proof offered to support it. So this 

nature. He was cited before the third general Council held at Ephesus, a.d. 431, 
or, according to some, 434. Here, writes Socrates, he spoke as follows : — ' I verily 
will not consent to call him God who grew to man's estate by two months, and 
three months, and so forth : therefore I wash my hands from your blood ; and 
from henceforth I will no more come into your company.' When he saw the con- 
sequences of this speech in the disorder which such sentiments created, he made 
a recantation, which, not being considered sincere, was not received. He was 
therefore condemned, deposed, and banished, by order of the council, which de- 
creed — ' That Christ was one divine person, in whom two natures were most closely 
and intimately united, but without being mixed or confounded together.' Nes- 
torius died in Oasis, the place of his banishment, and after his death his followers 
divided into different parties. — [Ed.] 



THE XXXIX ARTICLES. 



65 



doctrine concerning the death of Christ is to be received as ART. 

an unquestionable truth. There is no part of the gospel writ 

with so copious a particularity, as the history of his sufferings 
and death ; as there was indeed no part of the gospel so im- 
portant as this is. 

The fifth branch of the Article is, that he was a true sacri- 
fice to reconcile the Father to us, and that not only for original^ 
but for actual sins. The notion of an expiatory sacrifice, which 
was then, when the New Testament was writ, well understood 
all the world over, both by Jew and Gentile, was this, that 
the sin of one person was transferred on a man ar beast, who 
was upon that devoted and offered up to God, and sufi'ered in 
the room of the offending person 5 and by this oblation, the 
punishment of the sin being laid on the sacrifice, an expiation 
was made for sin, and the sinner was believed to be reconciled 
to God.* This, as appears through the whole book of Leviti- 
eus, was the design and effect of the sin ^iuditresspass offerings 
among the Jews, and more particularly of tlie goat tliat wias 
offered up ior the sins of the wiiole people on the day of Levit. xvi. 
atonement. This was a piece of religion well known botlt to 
Jew and Gentile, that had a great many phrases belonging t6 
it, such as. the sacrifices being offered /or, or instead oi, siw^ 
and in the namey or on the account, of the sinner ; its bearing 
of sin, and becoming sm, m the sin-offering; its being the 
reconciliation, ikie atonement, and the refifm^/io?z, of the sinner, 
by whieli the sin was no. more imputedyhvit forgiven, and for 

■ * 'Of the several sacrifices under the law, that one, which seems most exactly 
t9 illustrate the sacrifice of Christ, and which is expressly compared with it by the 
writer to the Hebrews, is that which was offered for the whole assembly on the 
solemn anniversary of expiation. The circumstances of this ceremony, whereby 
atonement was to be made for the sins of the whole Jewish people, seem so 
strikingly significant, that they deserve a particular detail. On the day appointed 
for this general expiation, the priest is commanded to offer a bullock and a goat, 
as sin-offerings, the one for himself, and the other for the people : and, having' 
sprinkled the blood of these in due form before the mercy-seat, to lead forth Sk 
second goat, denominated the scape-goat : and, after laying both his hands upqij 
the head of the scape-goat, and confessing over him all the iniquities of the peopAe,^. 
to -put them upon the head of the goat, and to send the animal thus bearing the sins 
the people away into the wilderness : in this manner expressing, by an action which - 
cannot be misunderstood, that the atonement, which it is directly affirmed was to 
be effected by the sacrifice of the sin-offering, consisted in removing from the people 
their iniquities by a symbolical translation to the animal. For it is to be remarked, 
that the ceremony of the scape-goat is not a distinct one ; it is the continuation of 
the process, and is evidently the concluding part, and symbolical consummation, of 
the sin-offering. So that the transfer of the iniquities of the people upon the head 
of the scape-goat, and the bearing them away to the wilderness, manifestly imply, 
that the atonement effected by the sacrifice of the sin-offering consisted in the' 
transfer and consequent removal of those iniquities. What, then, are we taught to 
infer from this ceremony? — That, as the atonement under the law, or expiation i^T- 
the legal transgressions, was represented as a translation of those transgressions, ^8'-' 
the act of sacrifice in which the animal was slain, and the people thereby cleansed 
from their legal impurities, and released from the penalties which had been incurred ; 
so, the great atonement for the sins of mankind was to be effected by the sacrifice 
of Christ, undergoing, for the restoration of men to the favour of God, that death, 
which had been denounced against sin ; and which he suffered in like manner as 
if the sins of men had been actiially transferred to him, as those of the congregation 

had been symbolically transferred to the sin-offermg of the people/ Magee -I Ed.] 

F 



66 AN EXPOSITION OF 

ART. which the sinner was accepted. When therefore this whole, 
set of phrases, in its utmost extent, is very often, and in a. 
great variety, apphed to the death of Christ, it is not possibly 
for us to preserve any reverence for the New Testament, on 
the writers of it, so far as to think them even honest men, not tO| 
say inspired men, if we can imagine, that in so sacred and impor- 
tant a matter they could exceed so much as to represent that to^ 
be our sacrifice which is not truly so : this is a point which w'ltL 
not bear figures and amplifications ; it must be treated of strictly, 
and with a just exactness of expression. Christ is called the, 
l°Pet' H ^ ' Lamb of God that taketh away the sins of the world ;^ hej 
24. * ' is said to have borne our sins in his own body ; to have been^ 
2 Cor. V, made sin for us it is said, that ' he gave his life a ransom foif- 
Matt XX ^^^^y ^^^^^ ^^^^ propitiation for the sins of the whole, 
28? world ;^ and that *^we have redemption through his bloody, 
Rom. iii. even the remission of our sins/ It is said, that '^he hath 
iJohnii 2 ^^c^^^i^^^ ^^i^ Father in his cross, and in the body of 

Eph. i. 7.' his flesh through death :^ that he by ^his own blood entered 
Col. i. 14, in once into the holy place^j having obtained eternal redemp- 
?leb^ix^^ tion for us that 'once in the end of the world hath he ap- 
11, 12, 13, peared to put away sin, by the sacrifice of himseK:^ that ' he 
14. was once offered to bear the sins of many:^ that 'we are 
2g^^28^' sanctified by the offering of the body of Christ once for all :^ 
Heb.x.'io, that, 'after he had offered one sacrifice for sin, he sat 
12,14, 19, down for ever on the right hand of God/ It is said, that 
i?eb xiii ^ enter into the holiest by the blood of Christ, that is the 
12, 20. ' blood of the new covenant, by which we are sanctified/ that 
' he hath sanctified the people with his own blood : and was 
the great shepherd of his people, through the blood of the 
1 Pet' ^i^' ®^®^^^sting covenant that ' we are redeemed with the prcr 
24, * * cious blood of Christ, as of a lamb without blemish and without 
1 Pet. iii. spot and, that ' Christ suffered once for sins, the just for 
the unjust, that he might bring us to God.^ In these, and in 
a great many more passages that he spread in all the parts of 
the Nev^^ Testament, it is as plain, as words can make any 
thing, that the death of Christ is proposed to us as our sacri- 
fice and reconciliation, our atonement and redemption. So it 
is not possible for any man that considers all this, to imagine, 
that Christ^s death was only a confirmation of his gospel, a 
pattern of a holy and patient suffering of death, and a neces- 
sary preparation to his resurrection ; by which he gave us a 
clear proof of a resurrection, and by consequence of eternal 
life, as by his doctrine he had shewed us the way to it. By 
this all the high commendations of his death amount only to 
this, that he by dying has given a vast credit and authority to 
his gospel, which was the powerfullest mean possible to re- 
deem us from sin, and to reconcile us to God : but this is so 
contrary to the whole design of the New Testament, and 
to the true importance of that great variety of phrases, in 
which this matter is set out, that, at this rate of expounding 



THE XXXIX ARTICLES. 



^7 



scripture, we can never know what we may ])uild upon, espe- A R T. 

cially when the great importance of this thing, and of our ^ 

having right notions concerning it, is well considered. St. ' 
Paul does, in his Epistle to the Romans, state an opposition 
between the death of Christ, and the sin of Adam ; the ill 
effects of the one being removed by the other : but he plainly 
carries the death of Christ much farther than that it had only 
healed the wound that was given by Adam^s sin ; ^for as the Rom. v. 
judgment was of one (sin) to condemnation, the free gift is of 12, to the 
many offences to justification.^ But, in the other places of * 
the New Testament, Christ's death is set forth so fully, as a 
propitiation for the sins of the whole world, that it is a very false 
Way of arguing to infer, that because in one place that is set 
in opposition to Adam's sin, that therefore the virtue of it 
was to go no farther than to take away that sin. It has indeed 
l^moved that, but it has done a great deal more besides. 

' Thus it is plain that Christ's death was our sacrifice: the 
meaning of which is this ; that God, intending to reconcile the 
world to himself, and to encourage sinners to repent and turn 
to him, thought fit to offer the pardon of sin, together with 
the other blessings of his gospel, in such a way as should 
demonstrate both the guilt of sin, and his hatred of it ; and 
yet with that, his love of sinners, and his compassions towards 
them. A free pardon without a sacrifice had not been so 
agreeable neither to the majesty of the great Governor of the 
world, nor the authority of his laws, nor so proper a method 
to obhge men to that strictness and holiness of life that he 
designed to bring them to : and therefore he thought fit to 
offer his pardon, and those other blessings, through a Mediator, 
who was to deliver to the world this new and holy rule of life, 
and to confirm it by his own unblemished life : and in con- 
clusion, when the rage of wicked men, who hated him for the 
holiness both of his life and of his doctrine, did work them up 
into such a fury as to pursue him to a most violent and igno- 
minious death, he, in compliance with the secret design of his isai. liii. 
Father, did not only go through that dismal series of suffer- i^- .. 
ings, with the most entire resignation to his Father's will, and Rev. xiH.* 
with the highest charity possible towards those who were his 8. 
most unjust and mahcious murderers; but he at the same 
time underwent great agonies in his mind ; which struck him 
with such an amazement and sorrow even to the death, that 
upon it he did sweat great drops of blood, and on the cross 
he felt a withdrawing of those comforts, that till then had ever 
supported him, when he cried out, ^ My God, my God, why 
hast thou forsaken me ?' It is not easy for us to apprehend 
in what that agony consisted : for we understand only the 
agonies of pain, or of conscience, which last arise out of the 
•horror of guilt, or the apprehension of the wrath of God. It 
is indeed certain, that he who had no sin could have no such 

horror in him ; and yet it is as certain, that he could not be 



6S 



AN EXPOSITION OF 



ART. put into sucli an agony only through the apprehension and 
fear of that violent death^ which he was to suffer next day: 
therefore we ought to conclude^ that there was an inward suf- 
fering in his mind^ as well as an outward visible one in his 
body. We cannot distinctly apprehend what that was^ since 
he was sure both of his own spotless innocence^ and of his 
Father's unchangeable love to him. We can only imagine a 
vast sense of the heinousness of sin_, and a deep indignation 
at the dishonour done to God by it^ a melting apprehension 
of the corruption and miseries of mankind by reason of sin, 
together with a never-bef ore- felt withdrawing of those consola- 
tions that had always fiUed his soul. But what might be far- 
ther in his agony_, and in his last dereliction, we cannot dis- 
tinctly apprehend ; only this we perceive, that our minds are 
capable of great pain as well as our bodies are. Deep horror, 
with an inconsolable sharpness of thought, is a very intolerable 
thing. Notwithstanding the bodily or substantial indwelling 
of the fuhiess of the Godhead in him, yet he was capable of 
feeling vast pain in his body : so that he might become a com- 
plete sacrifice, and that we might have from his sufferings a 
very full and amazing apprehension of the guilt of sin; all those 
emanations of joy, with which the indweUing of the eternal 
Word had ever till then filled his soul, might then, when he 
needed them most, be quite withdrawn, and he be left merely 
to the firmness of his faith, to his patient resignation to the 
will of his heavenly Father, and to his wiUing readiness of 
drinking up that cup which his Father had put in his hand to 
drink. 

There remains but one thing to be remembered here, though 
it will come to be more specially explained, when other Arti- 
cles are to be opened ; which is, that this reconcihation, which 
is made by the death of Christ, between God and man, is not 
absolute and without conditions. He has established the 
covenant, and has performed all that was incumbent on him, 
as both the priest and the sacrifice, to do and to suffer ; and 
he offers this to the world, that it may be closed with by them^ 
on the terms on which it is proposed ; and if they do not ac- 
cept of it upon these conditions, and perform what is enjoined 
them, they can have no share in it. 



THE XXXIX ARTICLES. 



69 



dii doiihir ^dlnQb ^nafoiv isdi \o *££3> 
ARTICLE lil. iw9TOl9f5rfi 

id ni ^rrhs'i 



ART. 
III. 



Of tlie going down of Christ into Hell. 




This was much fuller when the Articles were at first prepared 
and published in king Edward^s reign ; for these words were 
added to it^ ^ That the body of Christ lay in the grave until his 
resurrection ; but his spirit, which he gave up, was with the spi- 
Irits which were detained in prison, or in hell, and preached to 
'ihem, as the place in St. Peter testifieth." Thus a determined 
^^ense was put upon this Article, which is now left more at 
^large, and is conceived in words of a more general signification. 
In order to the explaining this, it is to be premised, that the 
article in the Creed, of Christ^s descent into hell, is mentioned 
by no writer before Ruffin,* who in the beginning of the fifth 
vcentury does indeed speak of it : but he tells us, that it was 
neither in the symbol of the Roman, nor of the Oriental 
churches; and that he found it in the symbol of his own 
church at Aquileia. But as there was no other article in that 
symbol that related to Christ^s burial, so the words which he 
gives us, descendit ad inferna, ^he descended to the lower 
parts,^ do very naturally signify burial, according to these 
words of St. Paul, ^ he ascended ; what is it, but that he also 
descended first to the lower parts of the earth ?^ And Ruffin 
himself understood these words in that sense. 

None of the fathers in the first ages, neither Irenseus, Ter- 
tullian, Clemens, nor Origen, in the short abstracts that they 
give us of the Christian faith, mention any thing like this ; 
and in all that great variety of Creeds, that was proposed b} 
the many councils that met in the fourth century, this is no> 
in any one of them, except in that which was agreed to at 
Arimini, and was pretended, though falsely, to have been 
made at Sirmium : in that it is set down in a Greek word that 
does exactly answer Ruffin^s inferna, KaraxOovia: and it stood 
there instead of burwtJ. When it was put in the Creed that 
carries Athanasius's name, though made in the sixth or seventh 
century, the word was changed to "Aidrigj or flell : but yet it 
seems to have been understood to signify Christ's burial, there 

* ' Ruffinus, a Presbyter of Aquileia, is famous on account of his Latin translations 
of Origen, and other Greek writers — his commentaries on several passages of the 
Holy Scriptures, and his bitter contest with Jerome. He would have obtained a 
very honourable place among the Latin writers of this century (the 4th), had it not 
been his misfortune to have had the powerful and foul-mouthed Jerome for his ad- 
versary.' — Mosheim. Ruffinus first published the Apostles' creed, as the creed of 



the church of Aquileia [Ed.] 



!iVN EXPOSITION OF 



A R r. being no other word put for it in that Creed. Afterwards it 

was put into the symbol of the western church : that was done 

at first in the words in which Ruffin had expressed it^ as 
appears by some ancient copies of Creeds which were pub- 
lished by the great primate Usher. 

We are next to consider what the importance of these 
words in themselves is ; for it is plain that the use of them in 
the Creed is not very ancient nor universal. We have a most 
unquestionable authority for this^ that our Saviour^s soul was 
in helL In the Acts of the Apostles, St. Peter, in the first 
* ' sermon that was preached after the wonderful effusion of the 

Spirit at Pentecost, applies these words of David concerning 
Ps.xvi.io. ^ God's not leaving his soul in hell, nor suffering his Holy One 
Acts 11. 27, corruption,^ to the resurrection of Christ. Now since, 

in the composition of a man, there is a body and a spirit, and 
since it is plain that the raising of Christ on the third day 
£ was before that his body in the course of nature was cor- 

' rupted; the other branch seems to relate to his soul; though 

it is not to be denied, but that in the Old Testament soul in 
some places stands for a dead body. But if that were the 
sense of the word, there would be no opposition in the two 
parts of this period ; the one wiU be only a redundant repeti- 
tion of the other : therefore it is much more natural to think 
that this other branch concerning Christ^s soul being left in 
hell, must relate to that which we commonly understand by 
soul. If then his soul was not to be left in hell, then from 
thence it plainly follows that once it was in hell, and, by con- 
sequence, that Christ's soul descended into hell. 

Some very modern writers have thought that this is to be 
understood figuratively of the wrath of God due for sin, which 
Christ bore in his soul, besides the torments that he suffered 
in his body : and they think that these are here mentioned by 
themselves, after the enumeration of the several steps of his 
bodily sufferings: and this being equal to the torments of 
hell, as it is that which delivers us from them, might in a large 
way of expression be called a descending into helL But as 
neither the word descend, nor hell, are to be found in any other 
place of scripture in this sense, nor in any of the ancients, 
among whom the signification of this phrase is more likely to 
be found than among moderns ; so this heing put after buried, 
it plainly shews that it belongs to a period subsequent to his 
burial : there is therefore no regard to be had to this notion. 

Others have thought, that by Christ's descent into hell is to 
be understood his continuing in the state of the dead for some 
time : but there is no ground for this conceit neither, these 
words being to be found in no author in that signification. 
Many of the fathers thought, that Christ's soul went locally 
1 Pet. iii. into hell, and preached to some of the spirits there in prison ; 
that there he triumphed over Satan, and spoiled him, and 
carried some souls with him into glory. But the account 



THE XXXIX ARTICLES. 



71 



that the scriptures give us of the exaltation of Christ begins A R T. 
it always at his resurrection : nor can it be imagined, that so 
memorable a transaction as this would have been passed over 
by the three first evangelists, and least of all by St. John, who 
coming after the rest, and designing to supply what was want- 
ing in them, and intending particularly to magnify the glory 
of Christ, could not have passed over so wonderful an instance 
of it. We have no reason to think, that such a matter would 
have been only insinuated in general words, and not have been 
plainly related. The triumph of Christ over principalities and 
t^Jpowers is ascribed by St. Paul to his cross, and was the effect 
ysLwd result of his death. The place of St. Peter seems to relate 
cto the preaching to the Gentile world, by virtue of that in- 
t^piration that was derived from Christ ; which was therefore 
i«alled his Spirit ; and the spirits in prison were the Gentiles, 
Ywho were shut up in idolatry as in prison, and so were under 
the power of the '^prince of the power of the air,' who is Eph.ii.2. 
called ^ the god of this world f that is, of the Gentile world : \ 
it being one of the ends for which Christ was anointed of his is. ixi. i. 
Father, ^to open the prisons to them that were bound.^ So 
' then, though there is no harm in this opinion, yet it not behig 
-founded on any part of the history of the gospel, and it being 
>isupported only by passages that may well bear another sense, 
f^^e may lay it aside, notwithstanding the reverence we bear to 
'those that asserted it ; and that the rather, because the iirst 
fathers that were next the source say nothing of it. 

Another conceit has had a great course among some of the 
latest fathers and the schoolmen : they have fancied that there 
was a place to which they have given a peculiar name, Limbus 
Patrum, a sort of a partition in hell, where all the good men 
of the old dispensation, that had died before Christ, were de- 
stained ; and they hold that our Saviour went thither, and 
^^emptied that place, carrying all the souls that were in it with 
-'him to heaven. Of this the scriptures say nothing ; not a 
^ord either of the patriarchs going thither, or of Christ's 
*^delivering them out of it : and though there are not in the 
''Old Testament express declarations and promises made con- 
t'cerning a future state, ' Christ having brought hfe and immor- 
< tahty to light through his gospel ;' yet all the hints given of 
fit shew that they looked for an immediate admission to blessed- 
^'ness after death. So David, ' Thou wilt shew me the path of Ps.xvi.ii. 
life: in thy presence is fulness of joy, and at thy right hand p^^^jxxUi' 
'-are pleasures for evermore. Thou shalt guide me here by thy 24. 
3 counsel, and afterwards receive me to glory.' Isaiah says, that Is. ivii. 2. 
f the righteous when they die enter into peace.' In the New 
Testament there is not a hint given of this ; for though some 
Vpassages may seem to favour Christ's delivering some souls 
« t>ut of hell, yet there is nothing that by any management can 
^ be brought to look this way. 

There is another sense of which these words [descended into 



72 



AN EXPOSITION OF 



ART. helt] are capable : by hell may be meant the invisible place to 
which departed souls are carried after death : for, though the 
See Bishop Greek word so rendered does now commonly stand for the 
Pearson on place of the damned, and for many ages has been so under- 
the Creed, gtood, yet, at the time of writing the New Testament, it was 
among Greek authors used indifferently for the place of all 
departed souls, whether good or bad ; and by it were meant 
the invisible regions where those spirits were lodged : so, if, 
these words are taken in this large sense, we have in them JsT 
clear and literal account of our Saviour's soul descending into 
hell ; it imports that he was not only dead in a more common 
acceptation, as it is usual to say a man is dead, when there 
appear no signs of hfe in him ; and that he was not as in a 
deep ecstasy or fit that seemed death, but that he was truly 
dead ; that his soul was neither in his body, nor hovering about 
it, ascending and descending upon it, as some of the Jews 
fancied souls did for some time after death ; but that his soul 
was really removed out of his body, and carried to those unseen 
regions of departed spirits, among whom it continued till his 
resurrection. That the regions of the blessed were known then 
to the Jews by the name of Paradise^ as heU was known by the 
Lukexxiii. name of Gehenna, is very clear from Christ's last words, ^To- 
43, 46. day thou shalt be with me in Paradise ;^ and ^ Into thy hands 
do I commend my spirit.' This is a plain and full account of 
a good sense that may be weU put on the words ; though, after 
all, it is still to be remembered, that, in the first Creeds that 
have this article, that of Christ's burial not being mentioned 
in them, it follows from thence, as well as from Ruffin's own 
sense of it, that they understood this only of Christ's burial. 



THE XXXIX ARTICLES. 



ART. 
IV. 

ARTICLE IVp^i3i^-^i oc moY/ AumO t^^tQ^^^i 

Of the Resurrection of ChristtjcB iasiO^ ^nom^ 
Dxis 5 b&d 10 boog i9riJ9xiw <.8liroa bo^isqab 
€i)vkt bitr trull) vi^t agatit from I9eat5> an^f tbbfe apitt ^fe 
hjtt^ dTIcsl;, ISontiS, anlr all tf)m3^ appertammg to tt}t^txUction 
of IHan'jg Mature, loijmiott^ i)e ajlcmtfelf into ?|ea8m, antr t!)tre 
^im^, unta iie return to jutfgc all M^n at t^e llaiSt I9ag. 

tr' ^ ^ ^-^^ 'fn^^-rr 

There are four branches of this Article: the first is con^ 
cerning the truth of Christ's resurrection. The second con- 
cerning the completeness of it : that he took to him again his 
whole body. The third is concerning his ascension and con- 
tinuance in heaven. And the fourth is concerning his return- 
ing to judge all men at the last day. These things are all so 
expressly afiirmed^ and that in so particular a manner^ in the 
New Testament^ that if the authority of that book is once well 
proved^ little doubting wiU remain concerning them. 

It is punctually told in it^ that the body of Christ was laid in ^^ '^ J 
the sepulchre : that a stone was laid to the mouth of it : that 
it was rolled away^ and upon that Christ arose and left the 
death-clothes behind him : that those who viewed the sepul- 
chre, saw no body there : that in the same body Christ shewed 
himself to his disciples, so that they all knew him; he talked 
with them, and they did eat and drink with him, and he made 
Thomas feel to the print of the nails and spear. It is as 
plainly told, that the apostles looked on, and saw him ascend 
up to heaven, and that a cloud received him out of their sight. 
It is also said very plainly, that he shall come again at the last 
day, and judge all men both the quick and the dead. So that 
if the truth of the gospel is once fully proved, it will not be 
necessary to insist long upon the special proof of these par- 
ticulars : somewhat wiU only be necessary to be said in ex- 
planation of them. 

The gospel was first preached, and soon after put in writing ; 
in which these particulars are not only delivered, but are set 
forth with many circumstances relating to them. The credit 
of the whole is put on that issue concerning the truth of 
Christ's resurrection ; so that the overthrowing the truth of 
that was the overturning the whole gospel, and struck at the 
credit of it all. This was transacted as well as first pubhshed 
at Jerusalem, where the enemies of it had aU possible advan- 
tages in their hands ; their interest was deeply concerned, as 
well as their malice was much kindled at it. They had both 
power and wealth in their hands, as well as credit and autho- 
rity among the people. The Romans left them at full liberty. 



74 



EXPOSITION OF 



ART. as they did the other nations whom they conquered^ to order 
IV. their own concerns as they pleased. And even the Romans 
themselves began quickly to hate and persecute the Chris- 
tians : they became the objects of popular fury^ as Tacitus 
tells us. The Romans looked upon Christ as one that set on 
the Jews to those tumults that were then so common among 
them^ as Suetonius affirms : which shews both how ignorant 
they were of the doctrine of Christ, and how much they were 
prejudiced against it. Yet this gospel did spread itself^ and 
was believed by great multitudes both at Jerusalem and in all 
Judea ; and from thence it was propagated in a very few years 
to a great many remote countries. 

Among aU Christians the article of the resurrection and 
ascension of Christ was always looked on as the capital one 
upon which all the rest depended. This was attested by a 
considerable number of men, against whose credit no objection 
was made ; who affirmed, that they all had seen him, and con- 
versed frequently with him after his resurrection ; that they 
saw him ascend up into heaven ; and that, according to a pro- 
mise he had made them, they had received extraordinary 
powers from him to work miracles in his name, and to speak 
in divers languages. This last was a most amazing character 
of a supernatural power lodged with them, and was a thing of 
such a nature, that it must have been evident to every man 
whether it was true or false : so that the apostles relating this 
so positively, and making such frequent appeals to it, that way 
of proceeding carries a strong and undeniable evidence of truth 
in it. These wonders were gathered together in a book, and 
published in the very time in which they were transacted : the 
' Acts of the Apostles^ were writ two years after St. Paul was 
carried prisoner to Rome ; and St. Luke begins that book with 
the mention of the gospel that he had formerly writ, as that 
gospel begins with the mention of some other gospels that 
were writ before it. Almost all the Epistles speak of the 
temple of Jerusalem as yet in being ; of the Jews as then in 
peace and prosperity, hating and persecuting the Christians 
every where : they do also frequently intimate the assurance 
they had of a great deliverance that was to happen quickly to 
the Christians, and of terrible judgments that were to be 
poured out on the Jews ; which was soon after that accom- 
plished in the most signal manner of any thing that is recorded 
in history. 

These things do clearly prove that all the writings of the 
New Testament were both composed and published in the 
age in which that matter was transacted. The Jews, who 
from all the places of their dispersion went frequently to 
Jerusalem, to keep the great festivities of their religion there, 
had occasion often to examine upon the place the truth of the 
resurrection and ascension of Christ, and of the effusion oi 
the Holy Ghost : yet, even in that infancy of Christianity, in 



THE XXXIX ARTICLES. 



75 



which it had so httle visible strength^ no proof was so much A R 
as ever pretended in opposition to those great and essential 
points ; which being matters of fact^ and related with a great 
variety of circumstances^ had been easily confuted^ if there 
had been any ground for it. The great darkness at the time 
of Christ's death, the rending the vail of the temple in two, as 
'well as what was more pubhc, the renting of the rocks at his 
■ death : his bemg laid in a new sepulchre, and a watch being 
^set about it; and the watchmen reporting, that while they 
* Slept, the body of Christ was carried away: the apostles 
%realving out all of the sudden into that variety of tongues on 
Pentecost ; the miracles that they wrought, and the proceed- 
ings of the sanhedrim with them ; were all things so publicly 
-done, that as the discovery of falsehood in any one of these 
was in the power of the Jews, if any such was, so that alone 
had most effectually destroyed the credit of this religion, and 
stopped its progress. 

The writings of the New Testament were at that time no 
secrets, they were in all men^s hands, and were copied out 
freely by every one that desired it. We find within a hun- 
dred years after that time, both by the Epistle of the church 
of Smyrna, by Justin, and Irenseus, not to mention Clemens 
idf Rome, who lived in that time, or Ignatius and Polycarp, 
iwho lived very near it, that the authority of these writings 
^as early received and submitted to ; that they were much 
Vread, and well known ; and that they began very soon to be 
^read at the meetings of the Christians for worship, and were 
esteemed by the several churches as the great trust and de- 
positum that was lodged with them. So that though, by the 
negligence of copiers, some small variations might happen 
among some of the copies, yet as they do all agree in the 
main, and most signally in those particulars that are men- 
tioned in this article ; so it was not possible for any that 
^should have had the wickedness to set about it, to have cor- 
rupted the New Testament by any additions or alterations ; it 
being so early spread into so many hands, and that in so 
^many different places. 

When aU this matter is laid together, it appears to have 
as full an evidence to support it, as any matter of fact can 
possibly have. The narration gave great scope to a variety 
of inquiries ; it raised much disputing, opposition, and perse- 
cution : and yet nothing was ever pretended to be proved that 
could subvert its credit : great multitudes received this doc- 
> trine, and died for it in the age in which the matters of fact, 
o-upon which its credit was built, were well attested, and in 
o which the truth or falsehood of them might have been easily 
t'jknown ; which it is reasonable to believe that all men would 
9-carefully examine, before they embraced and assented to 
y that which was likely to draw on them sufferings that would 
probably end in death. Those who did spread this doctrine. 



% W EXPOSITION OF 

ART. as well as those who first received it, had no interest beside 
IV- that of truth to engage them to it. They could expect 
neither wealth nor greatness from it : they were obliged to 
travel much, and to labour hard; to wrestle through great 
difficulties, and to endure many indignities. They saw others 
die on the account of it, and had reason to look for the like 
usage themselves. ' ^>^^ dikiib v^/j^w 

The doctrine that they preached related 'either fi) the fsfcis 
concerning the person of Christ, or to the rules of life which 
they delivered. These were all pure, just, and good; they 
tended to settle the world upon the foundations of truth and 
sincerity, and that sublime pitch of righteousness, of doing as 
they would be done by ; they tended to make men sober and 
temperate, chaste and modest, meek and humble, merciful 
and charitable ; so that from thence there was no colour given 
for suspecting any fraud or design in it. The worship of God 
in this religion was pure and simple, free from cost or pomp, 
from theatrical shows, as well as idolatrous rites, and had in 
it all possible characters becoming the purity of the Supreme 
Mind. When therefore so much concurs to give credit to a 
religion, there ought to be evident proofs brought to the con- 
trary, before it can be disbelieved or rejected. So many men 
forsaking the religion in which they were born and bred, 
which has always a strong influence even upon the greatest 
minds ; and there being so many particular prejudices both 
upon Jews and Gentiles, by the opinions in which they had 
been bred, and the impressions which had gone deep in them, 
it could be no slight matter that could overcome all that. 

The Jews expected a conqueror for their Messias, who 
should have raised both the honour of their law and their 
nation, and so were much possessed against one of a mean 
appearance; and when they saw that their law was to b^ 
superseded, and that the Gentiles were to be brought into 
equal privileges with themselves, they could not but be 
deeply prejudiced both against the person and doctrine of 
Christ. 

The philosophers despised divine inspiration, and secret 
assistances, and had an ill opinion of miracles ; and the herd 
among the Gentiles were so accustomed to pomp and show in 
their religious performances, that they must have nauseated 
the Christian simplicity, and the corruption of their morals 
must have made them uneasy at a religion of so much strict- 
ness. All sorts of men lay under very strong prejudices 
against this religion; nor was there any one article or 
branch of it, that flattered any of the interests, appetites, 
passions, or vanities of men, but all was very much to the 
contrary. They were warned to prepare for trials and crosses, 
and, in particular, for a severe and fiery trial that was speedily 
to come upon them. 

There was nothing of the way or manner of impostors that 



THE XXXIX ARTICLES. 



77 



appeared in the methods in which the gospel was propagated. ART. 
When the apostles saw that some were endeavouring to 
lessen them and their authority^ they took no fawning ways : ~~~ ^ 
they neither flattered nor spared those churches that were 
under their care : they charged them home with their faults^ 
and asserted their own character in a strain that shewed they 
were afraid of no discoveries. They appealed to the miracles 
that they had ^ATOught^ and to those gifts and divine virtues 
of which they were not only possessed themselves^ but which 
were by their ministry conferred on others. The ^ demonstra- i Cor.ii. 4. 
tion of the Spirit,^ or inspiration that was in them^ apj^eared in 
the power , that is^ in the miracles which accompanied it, and 
those they wrought openly in the sight of many witnesses. 
An uncontested miracle is the fullest evidence that can be 
given of a diiine commission. 

A miracle is a work that exceeds all the known powers of 
nature, and that carries in it plain characters of a power 
superior to any human power. We cannot indeed fix the 
bomids of the powers of nature ; but yet we can plainly ap- 
prehend what must be beyond them. For instance, we do 
not knoAV what secret virtues there may be in plants and 
minerals ; but we do know that bare words can have no 
natural virtue in them to cure diseases, much less to raise the 
dead : we know not what force imagination or credulity may 
have in critical diseases ; but we know that a dead man has 
no imagination : we know also, that bhndness, deafness, and 
an inveterate palsy, cannot be cured by conceit: therefore 
such miracles as the giving sight to a man born blind, speech 
to the deaf and dumb, and strength to the paralytic ; but 
most of all, the giving life to the dead, and that not only to 
persons laid out as dead, but to one that was carried out to 
be buried, and to another that had been four days dead, and 
in his grave ; all this was done with a bare word, without any 
sort of external application : this, I say, as it is clearly above 
the force of imagination, so it is beyond the powers of nature. 

These things were not done in the dark, nor in the presence 
of a few, in whom a particular confidence was put ; but in 
full day-light, and in the sight of great numbers, enemies as 
weU as friends, and some of those enemies were both the 
most enraged, and the most capable of making all possible 
exceptions to what was done. Such were the rulers of the 
synagogues, and the Pharisees in our Saviour^s time : and yet 
they could neither deny the facts, nor pretend that there was 
any deceit or jugglery in them. We have in this all possible 
reason to conclude, that both the things were truly done as 
they are related, and that no just exception was, or could be^ 
made to them. 

If it is pretended, that those wonderful things were done 
by the power of an evil spirit, that does both acknowledge 
the truth of the relation, and also its being supernatural. 



AN EXPOSITION OF 



ART This answer, taken from the power of evil spirits, is some- 

times to be made nse of, w^hen extraordinary things are weE 

attested, and urged in proof of that which upon other reasons 
we are assured is false. It is certain, that as we have a great 
power over vast quantities of gross and heavy matter, which 
by the motion of a very subtile bod}^, our animal spirits, we 
can master and manage : so angels, good or bad, may, by 
virtue of subtile bodies, in which they may dwell, or which 
upon occasion they may assume, do many things vastly above 
either our force to do, or our imagination to apprehend how 
it is done by them. Therefore an action, that exceeds all the 
known powers of nature, may yet be done by an evil spirit 
that is in rebellion against its Maker, and that designs to im-^ 
pose upon us by such a mighty performance. But then the 
measure, by which we must judge of this, is by considering^ 
what is the end or design driven at in such a wonderful wor& 
if it is a good one, if it tends to reform the manners of mm^ 
and to bring them olf from magic, idolatry, and superstition, 
to the worship of one pure and eternal Mind ; and if it tends: 
to reform their actions, as well as their speculations and theii* 
worship; to turn them from immorality, falsehood, and 
malice, to a pure, a sincere, and a mild temper ; if it tends to 
regulate society, as well as to perfect the nature and faculties 
of every single man; then we may well conclude, that no evil 
spirit can so far depart from its own nature, as to join its 

5^ 2*6^"' ^^^^^^^ co-operate in such a design : for then, the king- 
' ■ dom of Satan could not stand, if he were thus divided against 
himself;^ according to what our Saviour said, when thi^vwfis 
objected against the miracles that he wrought. : i^^t 

These are all the general considerations that concur to 
prove the truth of the history of the gospel, of which the 
resurrection and ascension of Christ are the two main arti? 
cles ; for they, being well proved, give authority to all thje 
rest. As to the resurrection in particular, it is certain thje 
apostles could not be deceived in that matter: they saw 
Christ frequently after he rose from the dead ; they met him 
once with a great company of five hundred with them : they 
heard him talk and argue with them ; he opened the scrip- 
tures to them with so peculiar an energy, that they felt their 
hearts set on fire, even when they did not yet perceive that j t 
was he himseK : they did not at first either look for his resua?7 
rection, nor believe those who reported him risen : they 
made all due inquiry, and some of them went beyond aU 
reasonable bounds in their doubting : so far were they from 
an easy and soon-imposed-on creduHty. His sufferings and 
their own fears had so amazed them, that they were con- 
triving how to separate and disperse themselves when he at 
first appeared to them. Men so fuU of fear, and so far from 
all hope, are not apt to be easy in believing. So it must be 
concluded, that either the account which the apostles gayie 



THE XXXimOlETICLES. 



79 



the world of Clirist^s resurrection is true : or they were gross ART. 
impostors ; since it is clear^ that the circumstances and num- 
hers, mentioned in that history^ shew there could be no 
deception in it. And it is as little possible to conceive that 
there could be any imposture in it : for^ not to repeat again 
what has been already said^ that they were under no tempta- 
tions to set about any such deceit^ but very much to the 
contrary; and that there is no reason to think they were 
either bad enough to enter upon such a design^ or capable 
and skilful enough to manage it ; they being many of them 
illiterate fishermen of Galilee, who had no acquaintance at 
Jerusalem to furnish them with that which might be neces^ 
sary for executing such a contrivance : the circumstances of 
that transaction are to be well examined, and then it will 
appear that no number of bold and dexterous men, furnished 
with all advantages whatsoever, could have effected this 
matter. 

Great numbers had been engaged in the procuring our 
Saviour to be crucified : the whole sanhedrim, besides mul- 
titudes of the people, who upon all occasions are easily drawn 
in to engage in tumultuary commotions : all these were con- 
cerned to examine the event of this matter. He was buried in 
a new sepulchre lately hewed out of a rock, so that there was 
no coming at it by any secret ways : a watch was set : and all 
this at a time in which the full-moon gave a great light all the 
night long : and Jerusalem being very full of people who were - f^- 
then there in great numbers to keep the passover, that being 
the second night of so vast a rendezvous, it is reasonable to 
think that great numbers were walking in the fields, or at least 
might be so, some later, and some earher. Now, if an imposture 
was to be set about, the guard was to be frighted or mastered, 
which could not be done without giving the alarm, and that 
must have quickly brought a multitude upon them. Christ^s 
body must have been disposed of : some other tomb was to 
be looked for to lodge it in: the wounds that were in it would 
have made it to be soon known if found. 

Here a bold attempt was to be undertaken, by a company 
of poor irresolute men, who must trust one another entirely, 
otherways they knew all might soon be discovered. One oi 
their number had betrayed Christ a few days before; an- 
other had forsworn him, and all had forsaken him ; and yet 
these men are supposed all of the sudden so firm in them- 
selves, and so sure of one another, as to venture on the most 
daring thing that was ever undertaken by men, when not a 
circumstance could ever be found out to fix upon them the 
least suspicion. The priests and the Pharisees must be 
thought a strange stupid sort of creatures, if they did not ex- 
amine where the apostles were all that night : besides many 
other particulars, which might have been a thread to lead 
them into strict inquiries, unless it was because they believed 



80 



AN EXPOSITION OF 



ART. the report that the watch had brought them of Christ's rising 
I^- again. When they had this certain reason to beheve it^ and 
yet resolved to oppose it^ the only thing they could do was to 
seem to neglect the matter, and only to decry it in general as 
an imposture, without going into particulars ; which certainly 
. they would not have done, if they themselves had not been 
but too sure of the truth of it. 

When all this is laid together, it is the most unreasonable 
thing imaginable to think that there was an imposture in this 
matter, when no colour nor shadow of it ever appeared, and 
when all the circumstances, and not only probabilities, but 
even moral possibilities, are so full to the contrary. 

^ The ascension of Christ has not indeed so full a proof : ni^i* 

is it capable of it, neither does it need it; for the resurrec- 
tion, well proved, makes that very credible. For this we 
have only the testimony of the apostles, who did all attest 
that they saw it, being all together in an open field : when 
Christ was walking and discoursing with them, and when he 
was blessing them, he was parted from them : they saw him 
ascend, till a cloud received him, and took him out of their 
sight. And then two angels appeared to them, and assured 

Acts i. 11. them that ^ he should come again in like manner as they had 
seen him ascend.' Here is a very particular relation, with 
many circumstances in it, in which it was not possible for the 
apostles to be mistaken; so that, there being no reason to 
suspect their credit, this rests upon that authority. But ten 
days after, it received a much clearer proof; when the Holy 
Ghost was poured out on them in so visible a manner, and 
with most remarkable effects. Immediately upon it they 
spoke with divers tongues, and wrought many miracles, and all 
in the name of Christ. They did often and solemnly disclaim 
their doing any of those wonderful things by any power of 

Actsiii.i2, their own: they owned that all they had or did was derived 
to them from Jesus of Nazareth, of whose resurrection and 
ascension they were appointed to be the witnesses. 

Christ's coming again to judge the world at the last day is 
so often affirmed by himself in the gospel, and is so frequently 
mentioned in the writings of his apostles, that this is a main 
part of his doctrine ; so that his resurrection, ascension, to- 
gether with the effusion of the Holy Ghost, having in general 
proved his mission, and his whole doctrine, this is also proved 
by them. Enough seems to be said in proof of all the parts 
of this Article; it remains only that somewhat should be 
added in explanation of them. 

As to the resurrection, it is to little purpose to inquire, 
whether our Saviour's body was kept all the while in a 
complete organization, that so by this miracle it might be 
preserved in a natural state, for his soul to re-enter it: or 
whether by the course of nature the vast number of the 
inward conveyances that were in the body were stopped; 



THE XXXIX ARTICLES. 



and if all of a sudden, when the time of the resurrection came, A R T. 

aU was again put in a vital state, fit to be animated by his 

soul. There must have been a miracle either way : so it is 
to little purpose to inquire into it. The former, though a 
continued miracle, yet seems to agree more fully to these 
words, ^Thou wilt not suffer thy Holy One to see corrup- Ps.xvi.io. 
tion.^ It is to as little purpose to inquire how our Saviour's 
new body was supplied with blood, since he had lost the 
greatest part of it on the cross : whether that was again by 
the power of God brought back into his veins ; or whether, 
as he himself had formerly said, that ^ man lives not by bread Deut. viii. 
alone, but by every word that proceeds out of the mouth of 3. 
God,' blood was supplied by miracle: or whether his body, 
that was then of the nature of a glorified body, though yet on 
earth, needed the supplies of blood to furnish new spirits for 
serving the natural functions ; he eating and drinking so 
seldom, that we may well beheve it was done rather to satisfy 
his apostles, than to answer the necessities of nature ; these 
are curiosities that signify so little, if we could certainly 
resolve them, that it is to no purpose to inquire about them, 
since we cannot know what to determine in them. This in 
general is certain, that the same soul returned back to the ^ ^ °' ^^^^ 
same body ; so that the same man who died, rose again ; and 
that is our faith. We need not trouble ourselves with inquir- 
ing how to make out the three days of Christ's being in the 
grave ; days stand, in the common acceptation, for a portion 
of a day. We know the Jews were very exact to the rest on 
the sabbath, so the body was without question laid in the 
grave before the sun-set on Friday ; so that was the first day ; 
the sabbath was a complete one ; and a good part of the third 
day, that is, the night, with which the Jews began to count 
the day, was over before he was raised up. 

As for his stay on earth forty days, we cannot pretend to "gj 
give an account of it ; whether his body was passing through 
a slow and physical purification, to be meet for ascending ; 
or whether he intended to keep a proportion between his 
gospel and the law of Moses ; that as he suffered at the time 
of their killing the passover, so the effusion of the Hoty 
Ghost was fixed for Pentecost, and that therefore he would 
stay on earth till that time was near, not to put his apostles 
upon too long an expectation mthout his presence; which 
might be necessary to animate them, till they should be en- 
dued with power from on high. As to the manner of his 
ascension, it is also questioned whether the body of Christ, as 
it ascended, was so wonderfully changed, as to put on the 
subtilty and purity of an ethereal body ; or whether it retains 
still the same form in heaven that it had on earth; or if it 
put on a new one : it is more probable that it did ; and that 
the wonderful glory that appeared in his countenance and 
whole person at his transfiguration, was a manifestation of 

G 



82 



■ AN EXPOSITION OF 



A R T. that more permanent glory, to which it was to be afterward^ 
IV. exalted. It seems probable from what St. Paul says, that 
i~Cor^cv~ ^^^^ blood shall not inherit the kingdom of God/ whicli 
50. ' ' relates to our glorified bodies, when ^ we shall bear the image 
of the second and the heavenly Adam/) that Christ^s body 
has no more the modifications of flesh and blood in it ; and 
that the glory of the celestial body is of another nature and 
Ver. 40. texture than that of the terrestrial. It is easily imagined 
gg,, how this may be, and yet the body to be numerically the 
same : for, all matter being uniform, and capable of all sort of 
■ motion, and by consequence of being either much grosser or 

much purer, the same portion of matter that made a thick 
and heavy body here on earth, may be put into that purity 
and fineness as to be no longer a fit inhabitant of this earth, 
or to breathe this air, but to be meet to be transplanted into 
ethereal regions. 

Christ as he went up into heaven, so he had the whole 
government of this world put into his hands, and the whole 
ministry of angels put under his command, even in his human 
27"28*^ nature. So that ^all things are now in subjection to him.^ 
' * All power and authority is derived from him, and he does 
Colos.i.i9. whatsoever he pleases both in heaven and earth. ' In him all 
^' fulness dwells.^ And as, the Mosaical tabernacle being filled 
with glory, the emanations of it did by the Urim and Thum- 
mim enlighten and direct that people, so, out of that fulness, 
that dwelt bodily in Christ, there is a constant emanation of 
Rom. viii. his grace and spirit descending on his church. He does also 
John xiv intercede for us at his Father's right hand, where he is pre- 
2. ' paring a place for us. The meaning of all which is this, that 
as he is vested with an unconceivably high degree of glory, 
even as man, so the merit of his death is still fresh and 
entire ; and in the virtue of that, the sins of all that come to 
God through him, claiming to his death as to their sacrifice, 
Eph, i. 13, and obeying his gospel, are pardoned, and they are ^ sealed 
by his Spirit until the day of redemption.' In conclusion, 
when all God's design with this world is accompHshed, it 
shall be set on fire, and all the great parts of which it is 
2 Pet. iii. composed, as of elements, shall be melted and burnt down ; 
' and then when by that fire probably the portions of matter, 
which was in the bodies of all who have lived upon earth, 
shall be so far refined and fixed, as to become both incorrup- 
tible and immortal, then they shall be made meet for the 
souls that formerly animated them, to re-enter every one into 
Dan.vii. 9, his own body, which shaU be then so moulded as to be a 
Rev. i. 7. babitation fit to give it everlasting joy or everlasting torment. 
Matt. XXV. Then shall Christ appear visibly in some very conspicuous 
31. place in the clouds of heaven, where every eye shall see him : 
he shaU appear in his ^own glory/ that is, in his human 
glorified body : he shall appear in the ^ glory of his angels/ 
having vast numbers of these about him, attending on him : 



THE XXXIX ARTICLES. 83 

but, which is above all, he shall appear in Miis Father's ART. 
glory;' that is, there shall be then a most wonderful mani- 
testation of the eternal Godhead dwelling in him ; and then Luke ix^ i 
shall he pass a final sentence upon all that ever lived upon 26. m 
earth, according to all that they have done in the body, ![^°^j2^^* 
whether it be good or bad. The righteous shall ascend as he Matt.xxv. 
did, and shall meet him in the clouds, and be for ever with 31—46. 
him ; and the ^\dcked shall sink into a state of darkness and ^' 
miser)^, of unspeakable horror of mind, and everlasting pain i x^gg^ 
and torment. 17. 

lO lacaoi^; ^msd l Dan.xii.2. 

r - ^ : Matt. XXV. 

46. 



7 \o ;tfT9mill'9TO^ 

'J I 

. .. 

- .m -^-^ 



84 



AN EXPOSITION OF 



V. 

ARTICLE V. 
Of the Holy Ghost. 
€i)t <&f^o^t proceetJing txom tl)t dTatj^er anti tl)e ^on, of omQ 
btt^ antr eternal (^oH. • ; 

In order to the explaining this Article,, we must consider^ firsts 
the importance of the term Spirit, or Holy Spirit ; secondly^ ■ 
his procession from the Father and the Son ; and^ thirdly^ that 
he is truly God^ of the same substance with the Father and the ; 
Son, Spirit signifies wind or breath, and in the Old Testa- , 
ment it stands frequently in that sense : the Spirit of God, or 
wind of God, stands sometimes for a high and strong wind ; 
but more frequently it signifies a secret impression made by 
God on the mind of a prophet : so that the Spirit of God and 
the spirit of prophecy are set in opposition to the vain imagina- , 
tions, the false pretences, or the diabolical illusions, of those , 
who assumed to themselves the name and the authority of a 
prophet, without a true mission from God. But when God 
made representations either in a dream or in an ecstasy to any 
person, or imprinted a sense of his wiU on their minds, toge- 
ther with such necessary characters as gave it proof and autho- 
rity, this was an illapse from God, as a breathing from him on 
the soul of the prophet. 

In the New Testament this word Holy Ghost stands most 
commonly for that wonderful effusion of those miraculous vir- 
tues that was poured out at Pentecost on the apostles ; by 
which their spirits were not only exalted with extraordinary ; 
degrees of zeal and courage, of authority and utterance, but 
they were furnished with the gifts of tongues and of miracles. 
And besides that first and great effusion, several Christians 
received particular talents and inspirations, which are most 
commonly expressed by the word Spirit or inspiration. Those 
inward assistances, by which the frame and temper of men^s 
minds are changed and renewed, are likewise called the Spirit, 
John iii. 3, or the Holy Spirit, or Holy Ghost, So Christ said to Nicode- 
' • mus, that ' except a man was born of water and of the Spirit, 
Luke xi. he cannot see the kingdom of God and that his ^ heavenly 
13. Father would give the Holy Spirit to every one that asked 
him.' By these it is plain, that extraordinary or miraculous 
inspirations are not meant, for these are not every Christianas 
portion ; there is no question made of all this. 

The main question is, whether by Spirit, or Holy Spirit, we 
are to understand one person, that is the fountain of all those 
gifts and operations; or whether by one Spirit is only to be 



THE XXXIX ARTICLES. 



85 



meant the power of God flowing out and shewing itself in ART*. ' 
many wonderful operations. The adversaries of the Trinity ^- 
will have the Spirit, or Holy Spirit, to signify no person, but 
only the divine gifts or operations. But in opposition to this John xiv. 
it is plain, that in our Saviour's last and long discourse to his 
disciples, in which he promised to send them his Spirit, he 
calls him another Comforter, to be sent in his stead, or to sup- 
ply his absence ; and the whole tenor of the discourse runs on 
him as a person: ^He shall abide with you: he shall guide Johnxvi, 
you into all truth ; and shew you things to come. He shall 8—13. 
bring aU things into your remembrance : he shall convince the 
world of sin, of righteousness, and of judgment.^ In all these 
places he is so plainly spoken of, not as a quality or operation, 
but as a person ; and that without any key or rule to under- 
stand the words otherwise, that this alone may serve to deter- 
mine the matter now in dispute. Christ^s commission to 
preach and baptize in the name of the Father, the Son, and the 
Holy Ghost, does plainly make him a person, since it cannot 
be said that we are to be called by the name of a virtue or 
operation. St. Paul does also, in a long discourse upon the l Cor. xii. 
diversity of gifts, administrations, and operations, ascribe them j^^' ^' 
all to one Spirit, as their author and fountain : of whom he ' 
speaks as of a person, distributing these in order to several 
ends, and in difi'erent measures. He speaks of the Spirit's i Cor. ii. 
^ searching all things,^ of his ^ interceding for us,^ of our 
^grieving the Spirit, by which we are sealed.^ This is the Ian- 26. 
guage used concerning a person, not a quahty. ^ All these,^ Eph. iv. 
says he, ^ worketh that one and the self-same Spirit, dividing 
to every man severally as he will.^ Now it is not to be con- 
ceived, how that both our Saviour and his apostles should use 
the phrase of a person so constantly in speaking of the Spirit, 
and should so critically and in the way of argument pursue 
that strain, if he is not a person : they not only insist on it, 
and repeat it frequently, but they draw an argument from it 
for union and love, and for mutual condescension and sympa- 
thy. Upon all these grounds it is evident, that the Holy Spi- 
7'it is in the scripture proposed to us as a person, under whose 
economy all the various gifts, administrations, and operations, 
that are in the church, are put. 

The second particular relating to this Article is, the pro- 
cession of this Spirit from the Father and the Son, The word 
procession, or, as the schoolmen term it, spiration, is only made 
use of in order to the naming this relation of the Spirit to the 
Father and Son, in such a manner as may best answer the 
sense of the word Spirit : for it must be confessed that we can 
frame no explicit idea of this matter : and therefore we must 
speak of it either strictly in scripture words, or in such words 
as arise out of them, and that have the same signification with 
them. It is therefore a vain attempt of the schoolmen to 
undertake to give a reason why the second person is said to 



86 



' AN EXPOSITION OF^ 



a' U be generated, and so is called Son, and the third to proceed, 
^ • and so is called Spirit, AU these subtilties can have no 

~~~~~ foundation^ and signify nothing towards the clearing this 
, matter^ which is rather darkened than cleared by a pretended 

^ "^^ " ^ illustration. In a word^ as we should never have believed this 
mystery, if the scripture had not revealed it to us, so we un- 
derstand nothing concerning it, besides what is contained in 
the scriptures : and therefore, if in any thing, we must think 
soberly upon those subjects. The scriptures call the second. 
Son, and the third. Spirit ; so generation and procession are 
words that may well be used, but they are words concerning 
which we can form no distinct conception. We only use them 
because they belong to the words Son and Spirit. The Spirit, 
in things that we do understand, is somewhat that proceeds, 
and the Son is a person begotten ; we therefore, believing that 
the Holy Ghost is person, apply the word procession to the 
manner of his emanation from the Father ; though at the same 
time we must acknowledge that we have no distinct thought 
concerning it. So much in general concerning procession. It 
has been much controverted whether the Holy Spirit proceeds 
from the Father only, or from the Father and the Son. 

In the first disputes concerning the divinity of the Holy 
Ghost with the Macedonians, who denied it, there was no other 
contest but whether he was truly God or not. When that 
was settled by the council of Constantinople, it was made a 
part of the Creed ; but it was only said that he proceeded from 
the Father : and the council of Ephesus soon after that fixed 
on that Creed, decreeing that no additions should be made to 
it : yet about the end of the sixth century, in the western 
church an addition was made to the article, by which the Holy 
Ghost was affirmed to proceed from the Son, as well as from 
the Father. And when the eastern and western churches, in 
the ninth century, fell into an humour of quarreUing upon the 
account of jurisdiction, after some time of anger, in which they 
seem to be searching for matter to reproach one another with, 
they found out this difference: the Greeks reproached the 
Latins for thus adding to the faith, and corrupting the ancient 
symbol, and that contrary to the decree of a general council. 
The Latins, on the other hand, charged them for detracting 
from the dignity of the Son : and this became the chief point 
in controversy between them. 

Here was certainly a very unhappy dispute ; inconsiderable 
in its original, but fatal in its consequences. We of this 
church, though we abhor the cruelty of condemning the eastern 
churches for such a difference, yet do receive the Creed accord- 
ing to the usage of the western churches : and therefore, though 
we do not pretend to explain what procession is, we believe 
according to the Article, that the Holy Ghost proceeds both 
from the Father and the Son: because in that discourse of 
our Saviour^s that contains the promise of the Spirit, and that 



THE XXXIX ARTICLES. 87 

long description of him as a person, Christ not only says^ that A R T. 
^ the Father will send the Spirit in his name/ but adds^ that ^ • 



^ he wiU send the Spirit ;^ and though he says next^ ^ who pro- john xiv. 
ceedeth from the Father/ yet since he sends him, and that he 26. 
was to supply his room, and to act in his name, this implies a -^g*^" '^^^ 
relation, and a sort of subordination in the Spirit to the Son. 
This may serve to justify our adhering to the Creeds, as they 
had been for many ages received in the western church: but 
we are far from thinking that this proof is so full and explicit, 
as to justify our separating from any church, or condemning 
it, that should stick exactly to the first Creeds, and reject this 
addition. 

, The third branch of the Article is, that this Holy Ghost or 

person, thus proceeding, is truly God, of the same substance 

with the Father and the Son. That he is God, was formerly 

proved by those passages in which the whole Trinity in all the 

three persons is affirmed : but besides that, ^ the lying to the Acts v. 34. 

Holy Ghost* by Ananias and Sapphira, is said to be 'a lying 

not unto men, but to God:^ his being called ^another Com- John xiv. 

forter; his teaching all things; his guiding into all truth; his J6,26.xvi. 

telling things to come ; his searching all things, even the deep j ^or. ii. 

things of God;^ his being called Hhe Spirit of the Lord,^ in lo, ii. 

opposition to ^ the spirit of a man ; his making intercession 

for us ; his changing us into the same image with Christ,^ are 2 cor, iii. 

all such plain characters of his being God, that those who deny 17, 18. 

that, are well aware of this, that, if it is once proved that he 

is a person, it will foUow that he must be God ; therefore all 

that was said to prove him a person is here to be remembered 

as a proof that he is truly God. So that though there is not 

such a variety of proofs for this, as there was for the divinity 

of the Son, yet the proof of it is plain and clear. And from 

what was said upon the first Article concerning the unity of 

G4}d, it is also certain, that if he is God, he must be of one 

mhstame, majesty, and glory, with the Father and the Son, y^. 

adi i 

dnaiOHii 6... . „od DiLs ^li^i -^..mm &ssdj tm aatSi^d. 

MonuoD L. , _o Qsvii^ rj''' ; ■ - " ' '--ut' 
gfixJo^iJoB lot rami bt\ 

-nioq IqMd srfi smBDed \.i _ . , ::^iO'{l 

^" ^ lord iQiip- :^ ■ - 



88 



AN EXPOSITION OF 



ARTICLE VI. 

■ 

h-. 

Z\ Of the Sufficiency of Holy Scriptures for Salvation. 

ad 

?|ol^ Scripture fontainet]^ all tl^tngsi mtt^^wc^ to ^albatum: isld 
t^KX\xyi^^i^Qthtxi^ not teatJ tl^min, nor map be pro^JtH tl^erebp, U 
not to be reqmre^f of anp Jilan, ti)at ft !gl)oultr be beli'efielf ail an 
Article of dTaitl^, or to be tliottgi^t regui^ite or necej^^arw to ^alba# 
tion. ^n tl)e name of i%z floln Scripture loe tro untfer^tantJ t^osfe 
Canonical ?3oofe^ of tl)e (BXn antf ^eb Ce^tament, of toj^ojft 
^uti^oritp loas; neber anp tJoubt in t]^e Cj^urc]^. 



Of the Names and Number of the Canonical Books. 



Genesis 

Exodus 

Leviticus 

Numbers 

Deuteronomy 

J oshua 

Judges 

Ruth 

The First Book of Samuel 
The Second Book of Samuel 
The First Book of Kings 
The Second Book of Kings 



The First Book of Chronicles 
The Second Book of Chronicles 
The First Book of Esdras 
The Second Book of Esdras 
The Book of Esther 
The Book of Job 
The Psalms 
The Proverbs 
Ecclesiastes or Preacher 
Cantica or Song of Solomon 
Four Prophets the greater 
Twelve Prophets the less. 



^ntr t]^e otljer 23oofeiS (a^ Hierom ;Satt]^) t][)e €^\xxt^ irotl) reatJ for 
([Example of Hife, anti instruction of JKanneriS ; but net it tJot^ 
not applp tl)em to ei^tablij^l^ ang iioctrine. ^\xc\^ are t^eiSe fot 



loiuing : 

The Third Book of Esdras 

The Fourth Book of Esdras 

The Book of Tobias 

The Book of Judith 

The rest of the Book of Esther 

The Book of Wisdom 

Jesus the Son of Syrach 



,ta mm 

Baruch the Prophet 

The Song of the Three Children 

The History of Susanna 

Of Bel and the Dragon 

The Prayer of Manasses 

The First Book of Maccabees 

The Second Book of Maccabees. 



ti)e 33oo]fe!S of tl)e ^eln Cesitament aiS tl)eg are commonly receibeti, 
be iJo receibe, antr account tl^em Canonical.* 

* The following is the new canon of scripture first set forth by the council of 
Trent, and afterwards confirmed and declared necessary to be received, with other 
articles of faith, by the bull of Pope Pius IV., A.D. 1564. 

' Sacrosancta cecumenica etgeneralis tridentina synodus, in Spiritu Sancto legitime 
congregata, praesidentibus in ea eisdem tribus apostolicse sedis legatis, hoc sibi per- 
petuo ante oculos proponens, ut sublatis erroribus, puritas ipsa evangelii in ecclesia 
conservetur quod promissum ante prophetas in scripturas Sanctis, Dominus noster 
Jesus Christus Dei Filius, proprio ore primum promulgavit: deinde per sues apos- 



THE XXXIX ARTICLES. 



89 



In this Article there are two important heads^ and to each of ART. 
them a proper consequence does belong. The first is, that the 
holy scriptures do contain all things necessary to salvation : 
the negative consequence that ariseth out of that is, that no 
article that is not either read in it, or that may not be proved 
by it, is to be required to be believed as an article of faith, or 
to be thought necessary to salvation. The second is, the 
setthng the canon of the scripture both of the Old and New- 
Testament ; and the consequence that arises out of that is, the 
rejecting the books commonly called Apocryphal,which, though 
they may be read by the church for example of life, and instruc- 
tion of manners, yet are no part of the canon, nor is any doc- 
trine to be established by them.* 

M^P . ^ ^ 

tolos tanquam fontem omnis et salutaris veritatis, et morura disciplinse, omni creaturse 
prsedicari jussit : perspiciensque banc veritatem et diseiplinam contineri in libris 
scriptis, et sine scripto traditionibus, quae ipsius Christi ore ab apostolis acceptse, 
aut ab ipsis apostolis, Spiritu sancto dictante, quasi per manus traditse, ad nos usque 
pervenerunt ; orthodoxorum patrum exempla secuta, omnes libros tam veteris quara 
novi Testamenti, cum utriusque unus Deus sit auctor, necnon traditiones ipsas, turn 
ad fidem, turn ad mores pertinentes, tanquam vel ore tenus a Christo, vel a Spiritu 
sancto dictatas, et continua successione in ecclesia catholica conservatas, pari pietatis 
affectu ac reverentia suscipit, et veneratur. Sacrorum vero librorum indicem huic 
decreto adscribendum censuit ; ne cui dubitatio suboriri possit, quinam suit, qui ab 
ipsa synodo suscipiuntur. Sunt vero infra scripti; Testamenti veteris, quinque 
Moysi, id est, Genesis, Exodus, Leviticus, Numeri, Deuteronomium : Josue, Judicum, 
Ruth, quatuor Regum, duo Paralipomenon, Esdrse primus et secundus qui dicitur 
Nehemias ; Tobias, Judith, Esther, Job, Psalterium Davidicmn centum quinquagenta 
psalmorum, Parabolse, Eeclesiastes, Canticum canticoruih, Sapientia, Ecclesiasticus, 
Isaias, Jeremias cum Baruch, Ezechiel, Daniel ; duodecim prophetae minores, id est, 
Osea, Joel, Amos, Abdias, Jonas, Michseas, Nahum, Habacuc, Sophonias, Aggaeus, 
Zacharias, Malachias ; duo Machabseorum, primus et secundus. Testamenti novi, 
quatuor Evangelia, secundum Matthseum, Marcum, Lucam et Joannum, Actus 
Apostolorum a Luca evangelista conscripti : quatuordecim Epistolae Pauli apostoli, 
ad Romanes, duae ad Corinthios, ad Galatas, ad Ephesios, ad Philippenses, ad 
Colossenses, duae ad Thessalonicenses, duae ad Timotheum, ad Titum, ad Philemo- 
nem, ad Hebraeos : Petri apostoli duae, Joannis apostoli tres, Jacobi apostoli una, 
Judae apostoli una, et Apocalypsis Joannis apostoli. Si quis autem libros ipsos 
integros cum omnibus suis partibus, prout in ecclesia catholica legi consueverunt, 
et in veteri vulgata Latina editione habentur, pro sacris et canonicis non susceperit, 
et traditiones praedictas sciens et prudens contempserit ; anathema sit.' — Cone. 
Trid. Sess. iv. 

* Csetera item omnia a sacris canonibus, et cecumenicis conciliis, ac prsecipue a 
sacrosancta Tridentina synodo tradita, definita, et declarata, indubitanter recipio 
atque profiteer; simulque contraria omnia, atque haereses, quascumque ab ecclesia 
damnatas, rejectas, et anathematizatas, ego pariter damno, rejicio et anathematizo. 
Hanc veram catholicam fidem extra quam nemo salvus esse potest, quam in praesenti 
sponte profiteer et veraciter teneo, eamdera integram et inviolatam usque ad extre- 
mum vitae spiritum constantissime, Deo adjuvante, retinere et confiteri, atque a 
meis subditis, vel illis quorum cura ad me in munere meo spectabit, teneri, doceri, 
et praedicari, quantum in me erit, curaturum, ego idem N. spondee, voveo, ac juro. 
Sic me Deus adjuvet et haec sancta Dei Evangelia.' Bulla Pii IV. sup. form jur. 
prof.Jid — [Ed.] 

* The books not admitted into the canon of scripture were called Apocryphal — 
a word derived from uTrox^uTrra, *to hide,' because of their not being submitted to 
public inspection as the inspired books were : or, according to others, from kto rtis 
K^vrrvtst because they were not admitted into the ark, the place where the canoni- 
cal books were deposited. 

* Concerning the books that belong to the New Testament, there is not any 
difference between us and other churches about them. For though some few par- 
ticular and private persons have both of late and heretofore, either out of their error 



^0 



^%]Sr EXPOSITION OF 



ART. After the main foundations of religion in general, in the 
belief of a God, or more specially of the Christian religion in 
the doctrine of the Trinity, and of the death, resurrection, 
and ascension of Christ, are laid down ; the next point to be 
settled is, what is the rule of this faith, where is it to be 
found, and with whom is it lodged ? The church of Rome 
and we do both agree, that the scriptures are of divine inspira- 
tion : those of that communion acknowledge, that every thing 
which is contained in scripture is true, and comes from God ; 
but they add to this, that the books of the New Testament 



rejected, or out of their curiosity (more than befitted them) debated, the canonical 
authority of the Epistle of St. Paul to the Hebrews, the Epistle of St. James, the 
Second Epistle of St. Peter, the Second and Third of St. John, the Epistle of St. Jude, 
and the Apocalypse, besides some other lesser parts of the gospels ; yet can it never 
be shewed, that any entire church, nor that any national or provincial council, nor 
that any multitude of men in their confessions or catechisms, or other such public 
writings, have rejected them, or made any doubt of them at all. Indeed, Luther, 
and some certain men that lived with him in Germany (no great number nor party 
of them), were other whiles of that mind, that the Epistle of St. James, &c., might 
be called into question, whether they were canonical, or no ; but afterwards they 
amended their judgment, and persisted no longer in that error, wherein some others 
of the Latin church (but never any considerable number or eminent persons there) 
had been involved before them. And at this day all the churches of Christendom 
are at one accord for the books of the New Testament. But for the Old Testament 
they are not so. For herein the canon of the council at Trent hath made the Roman 
church to differ both from itself (considered as it was in former ages) and from all 
other churches besides, by adding to the old Canon (strictly and properly so taken) 
six entire books which were never in it before, that is to say, Tobit, Ecclesiasticus, 
Wisdom, Judith, the First and the Second of the Maccabees, together with certain other 
pieces of Baruch, Esther, and Daniel ; all which before the time of this new council 
(where the Pope and his partisans, both in this and in many other divine matters be- 
sides, took a most enormous liberty to define what they pleased) were wont to be 
severed, even among themselves, from the true canonical scriptures. To the body 
whereof they have now not only annexed them, and made the one to be of equal 
authority with the other, but they have likewise added this above all, That whoso- 
ever shall not receive them, as they do, and believe them to be as good canonical 
scriptures as the rest (that is, all equally inspired by God, and delivered over to 
his church for such, ever since they were first written), must undergo the curse of 
their unhallowed sentence, and be made incapable of eternal salvation. The capa- 
city and assured hope whereof, though (thanks be to God) it never was, nor never 
will be, in their power to take from us, yet have they laid their most unchristian 
anathema upon all other churches and persons of the world, and excluded them 
from all possibility of being saved, unless their new decree in this particular, and the 
Pope's new creed in this and many other particulars (as unsound and as false as this), 
be first received and believed for the true articles of our Christian faith. By which 
their unsufFerable and inexcusable determination in that council, they have given 
the world suflficient cause to reject the council, if there were no other reasons to be 
brought against it (as many and very many other there be) but this alone — that 
herein against the common faith, and the catholic canon of the church of God, they 
have gone about to bind all men's consciences to theirs, and given no more faith or 
reverence to the true and infallible scriptures of God, than they do to other addi- 
tional books and writings of men. 

* For the whole current of antiquity runs against them. And the universal church 
of Christ, as well under the Old as the New Testament, did never so receive these 
books, which are now by us termed Apocryphal; nor ever acknowledged them to 
be of the same order, authority, or reverence, with the rest, which both they and we 
call strictly and properly canonical. 

' In proof whereof we shall here recite the testimony of the church in every age 
concerning the canon of the Old Testament, and the books that belong thereunto. 
"Where the question will not be. First, Whether those Apocryphal books either have 
been heretofore, or may still be, read in the church, for the better instruction and 



THE XXXIX ARTICLES. 



91 



were occasionally written^ and not with the design of making AR T^ 
them the full rule of faith, but that many things were de- 
livered orally by the apostles, which, if they are faithfully 
transmitted to us, are to be received by us with the same 
submission and respect that we pay to their writings : and 
they also believe, that these traditions are conveyed down 
infaUibly to us, and that to distinguish betwixt true and false 
doctrines and traditions, there must be an infallible authority 
lodged by Christ with his church. We, on the contrary, 
affirm that the scriptures are a complete rule of faith^ and 



edifying of the people in many good precepts of life : Second, Nor whether they 
may be joined together in one common volume with the Bible, and comprehended 
under the general name of Holy Scripture, as that name is largely and improperly 
taken : Third, Nor whether the moral rules, and profitable histories and examples, 
therein contained, may be set forth and cited in a sermon or other treatise of reli- 
gion : Fourth, Nor whether the ancient fathers thought these books (at least many 
passages in them) worthy of their particular consideration both for the elucidation of 
divers places in the Old Testament, and for the better enabling of them to get a more 
perfect imderstanding of the ecclesiastical story : Fifth, Nor yet, whether, in the 
very articles of faith, some certain sayings that are found in those books (agreeable 
herein to the others that are canonical) may not be brought for the more abundant 
explaining and clearing of them. For all this we grant, and to all these purposes 
there may be good use made of an apocryphal book. But the question only is, 
whether all or any of those books be purely, positively, and simply divine scripture, 
or to all purposes, and in all senses, sacred and canonical, so as that they may be 
said (or ever were so accounted) to be of the same equal and sovereign authority 
with the rest, for the establishing and determining of any matter of faith, or con- 
troversies in religion, no less than the true and undoubted canonical books of scrip- 
ture themselves.' — Cosin. 

Bishop Cosin, then, in his unanswerable ' Scholastical history of the canon of scrip- 
ture,* brings forward the testimonies of every age to the sixteenth century in support 
of ours, and consequently against the new canon of the church of Rome. 

The reader may on this important article consult with much advantage Sir H. 
Lynde, who proves that ' the entire canon of scriptures which we profess (without 
the apocryphal additions) is confirmed by pregnant testimonies in all ages, from 
the first to the sixteenth, and most of them acknowledged by the Romanists them- 
selves.' And also answers *our adversaries' pretences, from the authorities of 
fathers, and councils, to prove the Apocryphal books canonical.' Via Devia, sec- 
tions v. and vi. — [Ed.] 

* When the holy scriptures are called the rule of faith, we are to understand, 
the rule whereby to judge of controversies in matters of faith — the rule whereby 
that which is according to the faith may be made manifest, and heresy detected. 
The rule is one thing : that whereby we decide what is, or is not, according to the 
rule, another. The question of the judge must therefore be ever considered apart 
from that of the rule itself. ' Every man,' observes Chillingworth, ' is to judge for 
himself with the judgment of discretion, and to choose either his religion first, and 
then his church, as we say ; or, as you say (addressing the Romanist), his church first, 
and then his religion.' To exclude men from exercising their reason would make 
their faith in the first place irrational, because they could have no reason to be- 
lieve ; and in the second place, * altogether uncertain, and its object may as well be 
a falsehood, as a truth ; because if I have no reason why I believe it true, then I 
have no certainty, but it may be false ; for the only certainty I can have that my 
belief is not false, is because I have rational grounds to evidence it true, which 
when removed, what certainty can I have that I do not err?' Besides, when any 
man embraces the communion of the papal church, he has reason for so doing, or he 
has not. If he has not, then his belief is ' irrational, uncertain, and absurd : if he 
hath, then he believes the Romish church infallible, because his reason judgeth it 
to be so ; and so the church is beholden to the judgment of his private reason for 
his belief of her infallibility.' If it be objected by the Romanists, that reason is 
not a sure guide, we again answer with Whitby : — * Can you conduct me to a surer 
guide than reason? Yes, yovL will answer, to the church. But if my reason. 



92 AN EXPOSITION OW 

ART. that the whole Christian religion is contained in t^eiri^^^ahd 

no where else ; and although we make great use of tradition^ 

^ especially that which is most ancient and nearest the source, 
to help us to a clear understanding of the scriptures ; yet as 
to matters of faith we reject all oral tradition, as an incom- 
petent mean of conveying down doctrines to us, and we 
refuse to receive any doctrine, that is not either expressly 
contained in scripture, or clearly proved from it. 

Ex. xvii. In order to the opening and proving of this, it is W ire 
Deu 'xxvfi considered, what God's design, in first ordering Moses, and 
8. xxxi. 9^ after him all inspired persons, to put things in witing, could 
19, 22, 24 be : it could be no other than to free the world from the un- 
Jos^xxiv c^^^^^^^i^^ impostures of oral tradition. All mankind 
26," ' being derived from one common source, it seems it was much 
Is. viii. 1. easier in the first ages of the world to preserve the tradition 
Jer xxxvi P^^^^ ^^"^^^ could possibly be afterwards : there were only a 
2, 28-32! things then to be delivered concerning God; as, that he 
Hab. ii. 2. was One spiritual Being, that he had created aU things, that 
John' x'"^* ^® ^^0^6 was to be worshipped and served ; the rest relating 

2Pet.i.l5, _______ -■- y"liJ>> 

. being fallible, may misguide me, why may it not when it conducts me to the 
church; especially as you yourselves profess to believe the church's infallibility 
XXI. 5. ^pQJ^ prudential motives?' The judge then is the same in both churches, and 
must be kept quite distinct from the rule itself. Hence is evident the folly of 
Romanists, who, when they would assail our rule of faith, spend all their time in 
exposing the errors and absurdities into which men's private fancies have carried 
them : whereas such errors arise from men making something else, their own 
private spirit or their traditions, to be either a substitute for, or supplement to, the 
only unerring rule — the vsritten word of God.f 

The rule to which all questions of religion must be brought is the kx scripta — 
the written word ; ' and if this word,' observes Chillingworth, ' be sufficient to in- 
form us what is the faith, it must of necessity be sufficient to teach us what is 
heresy ; seeing heresy is nothing but a manifest deviation from, and an oppo- 
sition to, the faith. That which is straight will plainly teach us what is crooked ; 
and one contrary cannot but manifest the other.' But if the scriptures be not the 
rule, how then shall ' the notes of the church,' which the Romanist is bound to 
examine before he can join or remain in his own communion, be determined ? And 
if the scriptures be a sufficient rule whereby to try these, why not so for the 
trying of other questions — why not of all ? The scriptures then are not the judge, 
but only a sufficient rule for those to judge by who believe them to be the word of 
God. 

This distinction is all-important— indeed, the observance of it is indispensable in 
this controversy. By thus keeping questions, which have no necessary connexion, 
in their proper place, the champions of the papal system are at once deprived of 
the use of those weapons, which they have sometimes wielded with so much ap- 
parent success against Protestants ; while they themselves are involved in inextri- 
cable difficulties if compelled to attack the sufficiency and completeness of the 
scriptures as a rule whereby to determine questions of religion,; for how shall the 
question of the church be determined but by that rule which we adopt — ^the 
written word ? Thus in the chief of questions are they compelled to have recourse 
to our rule. 

In order to fully understand this point, the reader must study Chillingworth, 
chap. ii. * Scripture the only rule whereby to judge of controversies." — Ed. 



f The reader will see this particular point ably handled by Bishop Taylor — ' Of 
the sufficiency of the H(dy Scriptares to salvation.'' 



THE XXXIX ARTICLES. 



93 



) the history of the world, and chiefly of the first man that A R T. 

as made in it. There were also great advantages on the ^ ^' 
j.^ de of oj^al tradition; the first men were very long-hved, and 
^ley saw their own families spread extremely, so that they 
had on their side both the authority which long fife always 
has, particularly concerning matters of fact, and the credit 
that parents have naturally with their own children, to secure 
tradition. Two persons might have conveyed it down from 
Adam to Abraham ; Methuselah lived above three hundred 
years while Adam was yet alive, and Sem was almost a hun- ,r. ^; .xc. 
dred when he died, and he lived much above a hundred years -vixx-M 
in the same time with Abraham, according to the Hebrew. V^xxJ^^g 
Here is a great period of time filled up by two or three per- ^ss M 
sons: and yet in that time the tradition of those very few °^g~r 
things in which religion was then comprehended, was so uni- "^^^ '^^^ 
versally and entirely corrupted, that it was necessary to cor- ,el 
rect it by immediate revelation to Abraham: God intending Gen.xi^^i. 
to have a peculiar people to himself out of his posterity, com- 2, 3. 
manded him to forsake his kindred and country, that he .dsH 
might not be corrupted with an idolatry, that we have reason S 
to beheve was then but beginning among them. We are Gen. xxxi. 
sure his nephew iiaban was an idolater : and: the danger of 
mixing with the rest of mankind was then so great, that God _^ , 
ordered a mark to be made on the bodies of all descended 1 
from him, to be the seal of the covenant, and the badge and 
cognizance of his posterity : by that distinction, and by their 
li^-ing in a wandering and unfixed manner, they were pre- 
served for some time from idolatry; God intending after- 
wards to settle them in an instituted religion. But though 
the beginnings of it, I mean the promulgation of the law on 
mount Sinai, was one of the most amazing things that ever 
happened, and the fittest to be orally conveyed down, the law 
being very short, and the circumstances in the delivery of it 
most astonishing; and though there were many rites and 
several festivities, appointed chiefly for the carrying down the 
memory of it ; though there was also in that dispensation the 
greatest advantage imaginable for securing this tradition, all 
the main acts of their religion being to be performed in one 
place, and by men of one tribe and family ; as they were also 
all the inhabitants of a small tract of ground, of one language, 
and by their constitutions obhged to maintain a constant 
commerce among themselves : they having farther a continu- 
ance of signal characters of God's miraculous presence among 
them, such as the operation of the water of jealousy, the 
plenty of the sixth year to supply them aU the sabbatical year, 
and till the harvest of the following year: together with a 
succession of prophets that followed one another, either in a 
constant course, or at least soon after one another ; but above 
all, the presence of God which appeared in the cloud of 
glory, and in those answers that were given by the Urim and 



94 



EXPOSITION OF 



ART. Thummim ; all which must be confessed to be advantages on 
VI- the side of tradition, vastly beyond any that can be pretended 
ExTixyT ^^^Q been in the Christian church; yet notwithstanding 
22. xxix. all these, God commanded Moses to write all their law, as 
1 Sa xxiii '^^^ Commandments were, by the immediate power or 
9—^2!* "* finger of God, writ on tables of stone. When ail this is laid 
Ex. xxiv. together and well considered, it will appear that God by a 
^2. particular economy intended them to secure revealed religion 
from the doubtfulness and uncertainties of oral tradition, ^di 
It is much more reasonable to believe, that the Christian 
rehgion, which was to be spread to many remote regions, 
among whom there could be little communication, should 
have been fixed in its first beginnings by putting it in writ- 
ing, and not left to the looseness of reports and stories. We 
do plainly see, that though the methods of knowing and 
communicating truth are now surer and better fixed than they 
have been in most of the ages which have passed since the 
beginnings of this religion ; yet in every matter of fact such 
additions are daily made, as it happens to be reported, and 
every point of doctrine is so variously stated, that if religion 
had not a more assured bottom than tradition, it could not 
have that credit paid to it that it ought to have. If we had 
no greater certainty for religion than report, we could not 
believe it very firmly, nor venture upon it : so in order to the 
giving this doctrine such authority as is necessary for attain- 
ing the great ends proposed in it, the conveyance of it must 
be clear and unquestionable ; otherwise as it would grow to 
be much mixed with fable, so it would come to be looked on 
as all a fable. Since then oral tradition, when it had the 
utmost advantages possible of its side, failed so much in the 
conveyance both of natural religion, and of the Mosaical, we 
see that it cannot be relied on as a certain method of pre- 
serving the truths of revealed religion. 

In our Saviour's time, tradition was set up on many occa- 
sions against him, but he never submitted to it : on the con- 
trary he reproached the Jews with this, that they had made 
Matt. XV. ^the laws of God of no effect by their traditions;' and he told 
3,6, 9. them, that they ^worshipped God in vain, when they taught 
for doctrines the commandments of men.' In all his disputes 
with the Pharisees, he appealed to Moses and the prophets ; 
he bade them ^ search the scriptures ; for in them,' said he, 
Johnv.39. ffye think ye have eternal fife, and they testify of me.' Ye 
think is, by the phraseology of that time, a word that does 
not refer to any particular conceit of theirs ; but imports, 
that as they thought, so in them they had eternal life. Our 
Saviour justifies himself and his doctrine often by words of 
scripture, but never once by tradition. We see plainly, that 
in our Saviour's time the tradition of the resurrection was so 
doubtful among the Jews, that the Sadducees, a formed party 
among them, did openly deny it. The authprity. pf tradition 



THE XXXIX ARTICLES. 



95 



had likewise imposed two very mischievous en or s upon the A R T. 
strictest sect of the Jews that adhered the most firmly to it : 
the one was, that they understood the prophecies concerning ^ ; 
the Messias sitting on the ^throne of David ^ Uterally: they ■IJf 
thought that, in imitation of David, he was not only to free 
his own country from a foreign yoke, but that he was to sub- 
due, as David had done, all the neighbouring nations. This 
was to them a stone of stumbHng, and a rock of offence ; so 
their adhering to their traditions proved their ruin in all 
respects. The other error, to which the authority of tradition 
led them, was their preferring the rituals of their religion to 
the moral precepts that it contained : this not only corrupted 
their own manners, while they thought that an exactness of 
performing, and a zeal in asserting, not oidy the ritual pre- 
ce2>ts that Moses gave their fathers, but those additions to 
them which they had from tradition, that were accounted 
hedges about the law : that this, I say, might well excuse or 
atone for the most heinous violations of the rules of justice 
and mercy : but this had yet another worse effect upon them, 
while it possessed them with such prejudices against our 
Saviour and his apostles, when they came to see that they set 
no value on those practices that were recommended by tra- 
dition, and that they preferred pure and sublime morals even 
to Mosaical ceremonies themselves, and set the Gentiles at 
liberty from those observances. So that the ruin of the Jews, 
their rejecting the Messias, and their persecuting his follow- 
ers, arose chiefly from this principle that had got in among 
them, of believing tradition, and of being guided by it. 

The apostles, in all their disputes with the Jews, make their 
appeals constantly to the scriptures ; they set a high character 
on those of Berea for examining them, and comparing the Acts xvii. 
doctrine that they preached with them* In the Epistles to 
the Romans, Galatians, and Hebrews, in which they pursue a 
thread of argument, with relation to the prejudices that the 
Jews had taken up against Christianity, they never once argue 
from tradition, but always from the scriptures; they do not 
pretend only to disparage modern tradition, and to set up that 
which was more ancient : they make no such distinction, but 
hold close to the scriptures. When St. Paul sets out the ad- 
vantages that Timothy had by a rehgious education, he men- 
tions this, ^that of a child he had known the holy scriptures, 2 Tim iii. 
which were able to make him wise unto salvation, through 
faith which is in Christ Jesus :' that is, the belief of the Chris- 
tian rehgion was a key to give him a right understanding of 
the Old Testament ; and upon this occasion St. Paul adds, 
^all scripture (that is, the whole Old Testament) is given by 
divine inspiration;^ or (as others render the words) 'all the 
divinely inspired scripture is profitable for doctrine, for reproof, 
for correction, for instruction in righteousness, that the man 
of God may be perfect, throughly furnished unto all good 



96 ' EXPOSITION OF 



ART. woi 



)rKS. The New Testament was -WTit oii the same de&igii 
VI- with the Old ; that^ as St. Luke expresses it, ^ we might knoAV 
Luke i. T. certainty of those things wherein we have been instructed : 
John XX. These things were written/ saith St. John, ^ that ye might 
31- beheve that Jesus is the Christ, the Son of God, and that be- 
lieving ye might have hfe through his name.^ When St. Peter 
knew by a special revelation that he was near his end, he writ 
his Second Epistle, that they might have that as a mean of 
2 Pet. i. 15. keeping those things always in remembrance after his death/ 
Nor do the apostles give us any hints of their ha^dng left any 
thing with the church, to be conveyed down by an oral tradi- 
tion, which they themselves had not put in writing : they do 
sometimes refer themselves to such things as they had deli- 
vered to particular churches ; but by tradition in the apostles' 
days, and for some ages after, it is very clear, that they meant 
only the conveyance of the faith, and not any unwritten doc- 
trines : they reckoned the faith was a sacred depositum which 
was committed to them ; and that was to be preserved pure 
among them. But it were very easy to shew in the continued 
succession of all the first Christian writers, that they still 
appealed to the scriptures, that they argued from them, that 
they condemned all doctrines that were not contained in theni ; 
and when at any time they brought human authorities to 
justify their opinions or expressions, they contented them- 
selves with a very few, and those very late, authorities : so 
that their design in vouching them seems to be rather to clear 
themselves from the imputation of having innovated any thing 
in the doctrine, or in the ways of expressing it, than that they 
thought those authorities were necessary to prove them by. 
For in that case they must have taken a great deal more pains 
than they did, to have followed up, and proved, the tradition 
much higher than they went. 

We do also plainly see that such traditions as were not 
founded on scripture were easily corrupted, and on that ac- 
count were laid aside by the succeeding ages. Such were the 
opinion of Christ's reign on earth for a thousand years ; the 
saints not seeing God till the resurrection ; the necessity of 
giving infants the eucharist; the divine inspiration of the 
seventy interpreters ; besides some more important matters, 
which in respect to those times are not to be too much descanted 
upon. It is also plain, that the Gnostics, the Valentinians, and 
other heretics, began very early to set up a pretension to a 
tradition delivered by the apostles to some particular persons, 
as a key for understanding the secret meanings tliat might be 
^'^T*2'3"* in scripture; in opposition to which, both Irenseus, Tertullian, 
4 5 ' ' and others, make use of two sorts of arguments : the one is 
Tertul. de the authority of the scripture itself, by which they confuted 
Pre^c^.cap. their errors; the other is a point of fact, that there was no 
27' 28. ^^^^ tradition. In asserting this, they appeal to those churches 
which had been founded by tlie apostles, and in which a sac- 



THE XXXIX ARTICLES. 



97 



cession of bishops had been continued down. They say, in ART. 
these we must search for apostohcal tradition. This was not 
said by them as if they had designed to estabhsh tradition, as 
an authority distinct from, or equal to, the scriptures: but > 2©iJu-| 
only to shew the falsehood of that pretence of the heretics, " 
and that there was no such tradition for their heresies as they 
gave out. 

When this whole matter is considered in all its parts, such 
^as, 1st, That nothing is to be believed as an article of faith, 
-unless it appears to have been revealed by God. 2dly, That 
Toral tradition appears, both from the nature of man, and the 
"'experience of former times, to be an incompetent conveyer of 
-'truth. 3dly, That some books were written for the convey- 
ance of those matters, which have been in all ages carefully 
preserved and esteemed sacred. 4thly, That the writers of 
the first ages do always argue from, and appeal to, these books : 
and, 5thly, That what they have said without authority from 
them has been rejected in succeeding ages ; the truth of this 
branch of our article is fully made out. 

If what is contained in the scripture in express words is the 
object of our faith, then it will follow, that whatsoever may be 
proved from thence, by a just and lawful consequence, is also 
to be believed. Men may indeed err in framing these conse- 
quences and deductions, they may mistake or stretch them 
too far : but though there is much sophistry in the world, yet 
there is also true logic, and a certain thread of reasoning. And 
"^the sense of every proposition being the same, whether ex- 
pressed always in the same or in different words ; then whatso- 
ever appears to be clearly the sense of any place of scripture, 
is an object of faith, though it should be otherwise expressed 
than as it is in scripture, and every just inference from it must 
be as true as the proposition itself is : therefore it is a vain 
cavil to ask express words of scripture for every article. That 
was the method of all the ancient heretics : Christ and his 
apostles argued from the words and passages in the Old Testa- 
ment, to prove such things as agreed with the true sense of 
them, and so did all the fathers ; and therefore so may we do. 

The great objection to this is, that the scriptures are dark, 
that the same place is capable of different senses, the literal 
and the mystical : and therefore, since we cannot understand 
the true sense of the scripture, we must not argue from it, but 
seek for an interpreter of it, on whom we may depend. All 
sects argue from thence, and fancy that they find their tenets 
in it: and therefore this can be no sure way of finding out 
sacred truth, since so many do err that follow it. In answer Deut.vi.3 
to this, it is to be considered, that the Old Testament was ^^^f 
delivered to the whole nation of the Jews ; that Moses was read xxxi. li— 
in the S3rnagogue, in the hearing of the women and children; 13. 
that whole nation was to take their doctrine and rules from it : 30I.35* 
all appeals were made to the law and to the prophets among 

H 



98 



AN EXPOSITION OF 



ART. them : and though the prophecies of the Old Testament were 
in their style and whole contexture dark^ and hard to be un- 
2 Ki. xxiii. derstood ; yet when so great a question as this, Who was the 
2,21,24. true Messias? came to be examined, the proofs urged for it 
^^ 8 ts ^ were passages in the Old Testament. Now the question was, 
t7. viii. 20. these were to be understood ? No appeal was here made 
xxxiv. 16. to tradition, or to church-authority, but only by the enemies 
Matt. ii. 4 Sa^TLour. Whcrcas he and his disciples urge these pas- 

Liik. iv. 16 sages in their true sense, and in the consequences that arose 
—21. vii. out of them. They did in that appeal to the rational faculties 
xxi7^25 those to whom they spoke. The Christian rehgion was at 
27/* ~~ first delivered to poor and simple multitudes, who were both 
Actsxvii. illiterate and weak: the Epistles, which are by much the 
28^ xxvHi ^^^^^^^ ^® understood of the whole New Testament, were 
23] addressed to the whole churches, to all the faithful or saints ; 
that is, to all the Christians in those churches. These were 
afterwards read in all their assembhes. Upon this it may rea- 
sonably be asked, were these writings clear in that age, or were 
they not ? If they were not, it is unaccountable why they 
were addressed to the whole body, and how they came to be 
received and entertained as they were. It is the end of 
speech and writing, to make things to be understood ; and it 
is not supposable, that men inspired by the Holy Ghost either 
could not or would not express themselves so as that they 
should be clearly understood. It is also to be observed, that 
the new dispensation is opposed to the old, as light is to dark- 
ness, an open face to a vailed, and substance to shadows. Since 
then the Old Testament was so clear, that David^ both in the 
19th, and most copiously in the 119th Psalm, sets out very 
fully the light which the laws of God gave them in that darker 
state, we have much more reason to conclude, that the new 
dispensation should be much brighter. If there was no need 
of a certain expounder of scripture then, there is much less 
now. Nor is there any provision made in the new for a sure 
guide ; no intimations are given where to find one : from all 
which we may conclude, that the books of the New Testament 
were clear in those days, and might weU be understood by 
those to whom they were at first addressed. If they were 
clear to them, they may be Hkewise clear to us : for though 
we have not a full history of that time, or of the phrases and 
customs, and particular opinions, of that age, yet the vast 
industry of the succeeding ages, of these two last in particular, 
has made such discoveries, besides the other collateral advan- 
tages which learning and a niceness in reasoning has given us, 
that we may justly reckon, that though some hints in the 
Epistles, which relate to the particulars of that time, may be 
so lost, that we can at best but make conjectures about them ; 
yet, upon the whole matter, we may well understand all that 
is necessary to salvation in the scripture. 

We may indeed fall into mistakes as well as into sins ; 



THE XXXIX ARTICLES. 



and into errors of ignorance, as well as into sins of ignorance. A R T. 
God has dealt with our understandings as he hath dealt with 
our wills : he proposes our duty to us, with strong motives to 
obedience ; he promises us inward assistances, and accepts of 
our sincere endeavours ; and yet this does not hinder many 
from perishing eternally, and others from falling into great 
sins, and so running great danger of eternal damnation ; and 
all this is because God has left our wills free, and does not 
constrain us to be good. He deals \\dth our understandings ■ ^vi J i; J 
in the same manner; he has set his will and the knowledge of ',77 
salvation before us, in writings that are framed in a simple .^-x 
and plain style, in a language that was then common, and is Si' 
still well understood, that were at first designed for common f 
use; they are soon read, and it must be confessed that a great ^iv^sx .8S 
part of them is very clear : so we have reason to conclude, M 
that if a man reads these carefully and with an honest mind ; 
if he prays to God to direct him, and follows sincerely what 
he apprehends to be true, and practises diligently those duties 
that do unquestionably appear to be bound upon him by 
them, that then he shall find out enough to save his soul; 
and that such mistakes as he still upon him, shall either be 
cleared up to him by some happy providence, or shall be for- 
given him by that infinite mercy, to which his sincerity and 
diligence is well known. That bad men should fall into 
grievous errors, is no more strange, than that they should 
commit heinous sins : and the errors of good men, in which 
they are neither wilful nor insolent, will certainly be forgiven, 
as well as their sins of infirmity. Therefore all the ill use 
that is made of the scripture, and all the errors that are pre- 
tended to be proved by it, do not weaken its authority or 
clearness. This does only shew us the danger of studying 
them with a biassed or corrupted mind, of reading them too 
carelessly, of being too curious in going farther than as they 
open matters to us ; and in being too implicit in adhering to 
our education, or in submitting to the dictates of others. 

So far I have explained the first branch of this Article, 
The consequence that arises out of it is so clear, that it needs 
not be proved: TTiat therefore nothiJig ought to be esteemed 
an article of faith^ but what may be found in it, or proved 
from it. If this is our rule, our entire and only rule, then 
such doctrines as are not in it ought to be rejected ; and any 
church that adds to the Christian rehgion, is erroneous for 
making such additions, and becomes tyrannical if she imposes 
them upon aU her members, and requires positive declarations, 
subscriptions, and oaths, concerning them. In so doing she 
forces such as cannot have communion with her, but by 
affirming what they beheve to be false, to mthdraw from that 
which cannot be had without departing from the truth. So 
aU the additions of the five sacraments — of the invocation of 
angels and saints; of the worshipping of images, crosses, and 

H 2 



100 



AN EXPOSITION OF 



ART relics ; of the corporal presence in the eucharist ; of the 
sacrifice offered in it for the dead as well as for the living; 
together with the adoration offered to it; with a great many- 
more — are certainly errors^ unless they can be proved from 
scripture ; and they are intolerable errors^ if as the scripture 
is express in opposition to them^so they defile the worship of 
Christians with idolatry: but they become yet most intole- 
rable_, if they are imposed upon all that are in that commu- 
nion^ and if creeds or oaths in which they are affirmed are 
required of aU in their communion. Here is the main ground 
of justifying our forming ourselves into a distinct body from 
the Roman churchy, and therefore it is well to be considered.* 
The farther discussing of this will come properly in^ when 
other particulars come to be examined. 

From hence I go to the second branch of this Article, 
which gives us the canon of the scripture. Here I shaU be- 
gin with the New Testament ; for though in order the Old 
Testament is before the New, yet the proof of the one being 
more distinctly made out by the concurring testimonies of 
other writers, than can possibly be pretended for the other, 
and the New giving an authority to the Old by asserting it so 

* This question of separation is ably unfolded in the following extract: — 
' If therefore the church of Rome did thrust the Protestants from her commu- 
nion, for doing nothing but what became them as members of the catholic church, 
then that must be the schismatical party, and not the Protestants. For, supposing any 
church (though pretending to be never so catholic) doth restrain her communion 
within such narrow and unjust bounds, that she declares such excommunicate, who 
do not approve all such errors in doctrine, and corruptions in practice, which the 
communion of such a church may be liable to, the cause of that division which 
follows, falls upon that church which exacts these conditions from the members of 
her communion ; that is, when the errors and corruptions are such as are dan- 
gerous to salvation. For in this case, that church hath first divided herself from 
the catholic church ; for, the communion of that lying open and free to all, upon 
the necessary conditions of Christian communion, whatever church takes upon her 
to limit and enclose the bounds of the catholic, becomes thereby divided from the 
communion of the catholic church : and all such who disown such an unjust enclo- 
sure, do not so much divide from the communion of that church so enclosing, as 
return to the communion of the primitive and universal church. The catholic 
church therefore lies open and free, like a common field to all inhabitants ; now if 
any particular number of these inhabitants should agree together, to enclose part 
of it, without consent of the rest, and not to admit any others to their right of 
common, without consenting to it, which of these two parties, those who deny to 
yield their consent, or such who deny their rights if they will not, are guilty of 
the violation of the public and common rights of the place ? Now, this is plainly 
the case between the church of Rome and ours ; the communion of the catholic 
church lies open to all such who own the fundamentals of Christian faith, and are 
willing to join in the profession of them : now to these your church adds many 
particular doctrines, which have no foundation in scripture, or the consent of the 
primitive church — these, and many superstitious practices, are enjoined by her as 
conditions of her communion, so that all those are debarred any right of commu- 
nion with her, who will not approve of them ; by which it appears your church is 
guilty of the first violation of the union of the catholic ; and whatever number of 
men are deprived of your communion, for not consenting to your usurpations, do 
not divide themselves from you any farther than you have first separa,ted your- 
selves from the catholic church. And when your church by this act is already 
separated from the communion of the catholic church, the disowning of those 
things wherein your church is become schismatical cannot certainly be any cul- 
pable separation. For, whatever is so, must be from a church so far as it is 
catholic ; but in our case it is from a church so far only as it is not catholic, i.e. 



THE XXXIX ARTICLES. 



101 



expressly^ I shall therefore prove first the canon of the New ART 
Testament. I will not urge that of the testimony of the 
Spirit, which many have had recourse to : this is only an 
argument to him that feels it, if it is one at aU ; and therefore 
it proves nothing to another person : besides the utmost that 
with reason can be made of this is, that a good man feeling 
the very powerful effects of the Christian rehgion on his own 
heart, in the reforming his nature, and the calming his con- 
iScience, together with those comforts that arise out of it, 
is convinced in general of the whole of Christianity, by the 
happy effects that it has upon his own mind : but it does not 
from this appear how he should know that such books and 
such passages in them should come from a di"sine original, or 
that he should be able to distinguish what is genuine in them 
from what is spurious. To come therefore to such arguments 
,as may be well insisted upon and maintained. 

The canon of the new Testament, as we now have it, is 
vfully proved from the quotations out of the books of the New 
Testament by the writers of the first and second centuries ; 
such as Clemens, Ignatius, Justin, Irenaeus, and several 



so far as it hath divided herself from the belief and communion of the universal 

church. ... 

' For which we must farther consider, that although nothing separates a church 
properly from the catholic, but what is contrary to the being of it ; yet a church 
may separate herself from the communion of the catholic, by taking upon her to 
make such things the necessary conditions of her communion, which never were 
the conditions of communion with the catholic church. As for instance, though 
we should grant, adoration of the eucharist, invocation of saints, and veneration 
of images, to be only superstitious practices taken up without suf&cient grounds in 
the church ; yet since it appears that the communion of the catholic church was 
free for many hundred years, without approving or using these things ; that 
church which shall not only publicly use, but enjoin, such things upon pain of 
excommunication from the church, doth, as much as in her lies, draw the bounds of 
catholic communion within herself, and so divides herself from the true catholic 
church. For whatever confines must likewise divide the church ; for by that con- 
finement a separation is made between the part confined, and the other, which 
separation must be made by the party so limiting Christian communion. As it was 
. the<;ase of the Donatists, who were therefore justly charged with schism, because 
f they confined the catholic church within their own bounds : and if any other 
o church doth the same which they did, it must be liable to the same charge which 
't' they were. The sum of this discourse is, that the being of the catholic church lies 
X in essentials ; that for a particular church to disagree from all other particular 
'-'■churches in some extrinsical and accidental things, is not to separate from the 
£- catholic church so as to cease to be a chm'ch; but still whatever church makes 
y such extrinsical things the necessary conditions of communion, so as to cast men 

out of the church who yield not to them, is schismatical in so doing ; for it thereby 
e~ di\^des itself from the catholic church ; and the separation from it is so far from 

being schism, that being cast out of the church on these terms only returns them 
5 to the commimion of the catholic church. On which grounds it will appear that 
> yours is the schismatical chvirch, and not ours. For although, before this imposing 

01 humour came into particular churches, schism was defined by the fathers, and 
-rothers, to be a voltmtary departure out of the church, yet that cannot in reason be 
Y^understood of any particular, but the true catholic church ; for not only persons but 
s~ churches may depart from the catholic church ; and in such cases, not those who 
=i depart from the communion of such churches, but those churches which departed 

from the catholic, are guilty of the schism.' — Stillingfieet. 

The reader ought also to consult Chillingworth, chap. v. ' Separation of Prates^ 
tants from the church of Rome, not guilty of schism.' — [Ed.] 



102 



AN EXPOSITION OF 



ART. others. Papias^ who conversed with the disciples of the 
apostles, is cited by Eusebius in confirmation of St. MattheVs 
Gospel, which he says was writ by him in Hebrew : he is 
ilist. C.39. also cited to prove that St. Mark writ his Gospel from St. 
^; .. Peter's preaching; which is also confirmed by Clemens of 
^"g^j J: 15 Alexandria ; not to mention later writers. Irenseus says St. 
Luke writ his Gospel according to St. Paul's preaching; 
51,; ^ which is supported by some words in St. Paul's Epistles that 
.D9jB'_>r relate to passages in that Gospel : yet certainly he had hkewise 
other vouchers ; those ^ who from the beginning were eye-wit- 
nesses and ministers of the word ;' though the whole might 
receive its full authority from St. Paul's approbation. St, John 
writ later than the other three ; so the testimonies concerning 
Lib.iii. his Gospel are the fullest and the most particular. Irenaeus has 
cap. 11. laboured the proof of this matter with much care and atten- 
tion : he hved within a hundred years of St. John, and knew 
Tert. l.iv. Polycarp that was one of his disciples: after him come Ter- 
ca"* 1^^"^' ^^^^^^ Origen, who speak very copiously of the four 
Ong. apud Gospels ; and from them aU the ecclesiastical writers have 
Eus. lib.vi. without any doubting or controversy acknowledged and cited 
cap. 25. them, without the least shadow of any opposition, except 
what was made by Marcion and the Manichees. 

Next to these authorities we appeal to the catalogues of 
the books of the New Testament, that are given us in the 
third and fourth centuries by Origen, a man of great industry, 
and that had examined the state of many churches ; by St. 
Athan. in Athanasius, by the council of Laodicea and Carthage ; and 
Synops. after these we have a constant succession of testimonies, that 
Conc."^ ' deliver these as the canon universally received. All this 
Laod. laid together does fully prove this point ; and that the more 
Canh^* ^^6^^1y^ when these particulars are considered. 1st, That the 
can. 47. books of the New Testament were read in all their churches, 
and at all their assemblies, so that this was a point in which 
it was not easy for men to mistake. 2dly, That this was so 
near the fountain, that the originals themselves of the apostles 
were no doubt so long preserved. 3dly, That both the Jews, 
Dial.curn as appears from Justin Martyr, and the Gentiles, as appears 
'i'rypho. i^y Celsus, knevv^ that these were the books in which the faith 
of the Christians was contained. 4thly, That some question 
was made touching some of them, because there was not that 
clear or general knowledge concerning them, that there was 
concerning the others ; yet upon fuller inquiry all acquiesced 
in them. No doubt was ever made about thirteen of St. Paul's 
Tertul. de Epistles ; because there were particular churches or persons, 
^ resc. cap. whom the originals of them were directed : but the strain 
and design of that to the Hebrews being to remove their pre- 
judices, that high one, which they had taken up against St. 
Paul as an enemy to their nation, was to be kept out of view, 
that it might not blast the good elFects which were intended 
by it ; yet it is cited oftener than once by Clemens of Rome : 



THE XXXIX ARTICLES. 



103 



and though the ignorance of many of the Roman churchy who ART. 
thought that some passages in it favoured the severity of the 
Novatians, that cut off apostates from the hopes of repent- origTipT 
ance, made them question it^ of which mention is made both ad African, 
by Origen, Eusebius, and Jerome, who frequently affirm, that ^^^^j^^^^' 
the Latin church, or the Roman, did not receive it ; yet Eusebjiis! 
Athanasius reckons both this and the seven general Epistles iib.vi.c.14. 
among the canonical writings. Cyril of Jerusalem, who ^^"j^J' 
occasion to be well informed about it, says, that he delivers Cyr.Cateci 
his catalogue from the church, as she had received it from iv. 
the apostles, the ancient bishops, and the governors of the 
church ; and reckons up in it both the seven general Epistles, 
and the fourteen of St. Paul. So does Ruffin, and so do the 
councils of Laodicea and Carthage ;^ the canons of the 
former being received into the body of the Canons^ of the 
Universal Church. Ireneeus, Origen, and Clemens of Alex- 
andria,*" cite the Epistle to the Hebrews frequently. Some ; i 
question was made of the Epistle of St. James, the Second of, >^sM .tnos 
St. Peter, the Second and Third of St. John, and St. Jude^s 
Epistle. But both Clemens of Rome,*^ Ignatius, and Origen, 
cite St. James's Epistle; Eusebius^ says it was known to 
most, and read in most Christian churches : the like is testi- 
fied by St. Jerome.*^ St. Peter^s Second Epistle is cited by 
Origen and Firmihanf and Eusebius^ says it was held very 
useful even by those who held it not canonical ; but smce the 
First Epistle was never questioned by any, the Second that 
carries so many characters of its genuineness, such as St. 
Peter's name at the head of it, the mention of the transfigura- 
tion, and of his being an eye-witness of it, are evident proofs 
of its being writ by him. The Second and Third Epistles of St. 
John are cited by Ireneeus, Clemens and Dennis of Alexandria, 
and by Tertulhan.' The Epistle of St. Jude is also cited 
by TertuUian.* Some of those general Epistles were not ad- 
dressed to any particular body, or church, that might have 
preserved the originals of them, but were sent about in the 
nature of circular letters ; so that it is no wonder if they were 
not received so early, and with such an unanimity, as we find n 
concemmg the four Gospels, the Acts of the Apostles, and f.f.r ,r; r 
thirteen of St. Paul's Epistles. These, being first fixed upon 

* Apud Hieron. 

b Can. 60. Can. 47. 

^ Iren. 1. iii. c. 38. Orig. 1. iii. et vii. cont. Cels. Dial. con. Marc, et Ep. ad 
Afric. Clem. Alex. Strom, lib. ii. — iv. et vi. 
^ Ignat. Ep. ad Eph. Orig. Horn. 13. in Ggnes. 
e Eus. Hist. 1. ii. c. 23, 1. iii. c. 25. 
^ Hieron. Pref. in Ep. Jac. 

e Orig. cont. Marcion. Firmil. inter Epist. Cyprian. Ep. 75. p. 226. Oxon. 1682. 
h Eus. Hist. 1. iii. c. 3. 

* Iren. I. i. c. 13. Clem. Alex. Strom. 2. Tertul. de Carne Chr. c. 24. Eu3. 
Hist. 1. vi. c. 25. Tertul. de cultu foem. 

* The reader will find these writers quoted at length in ' Lardner's Credibi- 
lity/&c.-[E..] , ^,(-^^,^, - 



104 



AN EXPOSITION'k^HI 



A ft ^ by aii unquestioned and undisputed tradition^ made' tKat"Kere 
Vir^ was a standard once ascertained to judge the better of tW^ 
rest : so when the matter was strictly examined^ so near the 
fountain that it was very possible and easy to find out the 
certainty of it^ then in the beginning of the fourth century th^f 
canon was settled, and universally agreed to. The style andE^' 
matter of the Revelation, as well as the designation of Diviriii^ 
given to the author of it, gave occasion to many questions 
Clem, in about it : Clemens of Rome cites it as a prophetical book :* 
Ep adCor. j^st;jjj Martyr says it was writ by John, one of Christ^s twelve 

Justin.con. ^ J •^ n-i-r^ i' c t ^ i t '^-' 

Tryphon. apostlcs ; Irenssus calls it the Revelation or ot. John, the dis- 
iren. I. v. ciplc of our Lord, writ almost in our own age, in the end of ^' 
c^xxm. & DQjnitian^s reign. Melito writ upon it : Theophilus of An--''^ 
Eus. Hist, tioch, Hippolytus, Clemens and Dennis of Alexandria, Tertul- ' 
1. iv.c. 24, lian, Cyprian, and Grigen, do cite it. And thus the canon of: 
f^v c 18 New Testament seems to be fully made out by the con-^^| 
l.vii.c.25. current testimony of the several churches immediately after ' 
the apostolical time. 

Here it is to be observed, that a great diiFerence is to made^ t 
between all this and the oral tradition of a doctrine, in whicli^ ■ 
there is nothing fixed or permanent, so that the whole is only"^:^ 
report carried about and handed down. Whereas here is a ' 
book, that was only to be copied out and read publicly, and 
by all persons, between which the difference is so vast, that it 
is as Httle possible to imagine how the one should continue 
pure, as how the other should come to be corrupted. There 
was never a book of which we have that reason to be assured 
that it is genuine, that we have here. There happened to be 
constant disputes among Christians from the second century 
downward, concerning some of the most important parts of 
this doctrine ; and by both sides these books were appealed 
to: and though there might be some variations in readings 
and translations, yet no question was made concerning the ^ 
canon, or the authenticalness of the books themselves ; unless' 
it were by the Manichees, who came indeed to be called Chris- 
tians, by a very enlarged way of speaking ; since it is justly 
strange how men who said that the Author of the universe, 
and of the Mosaical dispensation, was an evil God ; and who 
held that there were two supreme Gods, a good and an evil 
one ; how such men, I say, could be called Christians, ^^.^f^" 

* This citation of the book of Revelation by Clemens of Rome is not notice^l^ ^ 
by Lardner, Paley, or Mr. Horne in his ' Introduction,' &c. Tomline says, ' Thei' 
earliest author now extant, who mentions this book, is Justin Martyr, who lived , 
about sixty years after it was written, and he ascribes it to St. John.' Mr. Horne, 
however, following Lardner, mentions Hermas, Ignatius, and Polycarp, who lived 
before the time of Justin Martyr, as having referred to this book. We have takenf 
some pains to discover Burnet's grounds for his statement respecting Clemens of 
Rome, and think it probable that the following is the passage from Clemens which 
he had in view, and which appears to be a reference to Rev. xxii. 12 : ' For from 
him are all things ; and thus he speaks to us beforehand : " Behold the Lord 
cometh, and his reward is before his face, to render to every man according to his 
work." ' — [Ed.] 



THE XXXIX ARTICLES. 



105 



The authority of those books is not derived from any judg- ART. 
ment that the church made concerning them ; but from this, , ^^M'-' 
that it was known that they were writ^ either by men who were , 
themselves the apostles of Christy or by those who were their .\ 
assistants and companions, at whose order, or under whose 
direction and approbation, it was known that they were written 
and published. These books were received and known for - 
suchj in the very apostohcal age itself; so that many of the 
apostolical men, such as Ignatius and Poly carp, lived long i 
enough to see the canon generally received and settled. The 
suffering and depressed state of the first Christians was also | 
such, that as there is no reason to suspect them of imposture, j ntnl 
so it is not at all credible that an imposture of this kind could f ^ .ifixx.o 
have passed upon all the Christian churches. A man in a > ^f^jy g^jjj 
corner might have forged the Sibylline oracles, or some other j ^ts .o ,vi J 
pieces which were not to be generally used ; and they might ^ -'^^ 
ha-ve appeared soon after, and credit might have been given > ^g^g^^f'jljj^ 
too easily to a book or writing of that kind : but it cannot be ^ + 
imagined, that in an age in which the behef of this doctrine 
brought men under great troubles, and in which miracles and r 
other extraordinary gifts were long continued in the church, 
that, I say, either false books could have been so early ob- 
traded on the church as true, or that true books could have f 
been so vitiated as to lose their original purity, while they f 
were so universally read and used; and that so soon ; or that ^ 
the writers of that very age and of the next should have been 
so generally and so grossly imposed upon, as to have cited r 
spurious writings for true. These are things that could not be j 
beUeved in the histories or records of any nation : though the , 
value that the Christians set upon these books, and the con- 
stant use they made of them, reading a parcel of them every , 
Lord's day, make this much less supposable in the Christian ^ 
religion, than it could be in any other sort of history or record > 
whatsoever. The early spreading of the Christian religion to 
so many remote countries and provinces, the many copies of /~ 
these books that lay in countries so remote, the many transla- t 
tions of them that were quickly made, do all concur to make . 
the impossibihty of any such imposture the more sensible. . 
Thus the canon of the New Testament is fixed upon clear and . { 
sure grounds. 

From thence, without any farther proof, we may be con- 
vinced of the canon of the Old Testament. Christ does fre- 
quently cite Moses and the prophets ; he appeals to them ; ^ 
and though he charged the Jews of that time, chiefly their ' 
teachers and rulers, with many disorders and faults, yet he 
never once so much as insinuated that they had corrupted their 
law, or other sacred books ; which, if true, had been the great- ^ 
est of aU those abuses that they had put upon the people, i 
Our Saviour cited their books according to the translation ^at 
was then in credit and common use amongst them. When 



106 



AN EXPOSITION OF 



ART. one asked him which was the great commandment, he an- 
swered, ^ How readest thou ?^ And he proved the chief things 

Luke xxiv. relating to himself, his death and resurrection, from the pro- 

25—27. phecies that had gone before ; which ought to have been ful- 
filled in him : he also cites the Old Testament, by a threefold 

Luke xxiv. division of the ^ law of Moses, the Prophets, and the Psalms -/ 
according to the three orders of books into which the Jews 
had divided it. The Psalms, which was the first among the 
holy writings, being set for that whole volume, St. Paul says, 

Rom.iii.2. that ^to the Jews were committed the oracles of God:^ he 
reckons that among the chief of their privileges, but he never 
blames them for being unfaithful in this trust ; and it is cer- 
tain that the Jews have not corrupted the chief of those pas- 
sages that are urged against them to prove J esus to have been 
the Christ. So that the Old Testament, at least the transla- 
tion of the LXX interpreters, which was in common use and 
in high esteem among the Jews in our Saviour's time, was, as 
to the main, faithful and uncorrupted. This might be farther 
urged from what St. Paul says concerning those scriptures which 

2 Tim. ili. Timothy had learned of a child ; these could be no other than 
the books of the Old Testament. Thus if the writings of the 
New Testament are acknowledged to be of divine authority, 
the full testimony, that they give to the books of the Old 
Testament, does sufficiently prove their authority and genuine- 
ness likewise. But to carry this matter yet farther : 

Moses wrought such miracles both in Egypt, in passing 
through the Red Sea, and in the wilderness, that, if these are 
acknowledged to be true, there can be no question made of 
his being sent of God, and authorized by him to deliver his 
will to the Jewish nation. The relation given of those miracles 
represents them to be such in themselves, and to have been 
acted so publicly, that it cannot be pretended they were 
tricks, or that some bold asserters gained a credit to them by 
affirming them. They were so publicly transacted, that the 
relations given of them are either downright fables : or they 
were clear and uncontested characters of a prophet authorized 
of God. Nor is the relation of them made with any of those 
arts that are almost necessary to impostors. The Jewish na- 
tion is aU along represented as froward and disobedient, apt- 
to murmur and rebel. The laws it contains, as to the pohtical 
part, are calculated to advance both justice and compassion, 
to awaken industry, and yet to repress avarice. Liberty and 
authority are duly tempered ; the moral part is pure, and suit- 
able to human nature, though with some imperfections and 
tolerances which were connived at, but yet regulated : and for 
the religious part, idolatry, magic, and all human sacrifices, 
were put away by it. When we consider what remains are 
left us of the idolatry of the Egyptians, and what was after- 
ward among the Greeks and Romans, who were polite and 
well constituted as to their civil laws and rules, and may be 



THE XXXIX ARTICLES. 



107 



esteemed the most refined pieces of heathenism, we do find a A R f : 

simpUcity and purity, a majesty and gravity, a modesty with ^ ^- 

a decency, in the Je\^ish rituals, to which the others can in no 
sort be compared. 

In the books of Moses, no design for himself appears ; his 
posterity were but in the crowd, Levites without any character 
of distinction ; and he spares neither himself nor his brother, 
when there was occasion to mention their faults, no more than 
he does the rest of his countrymen. It is to be farther con- 
sidered, that the laws and pohcy appointed by Moses settled 
many rules and rights that must have perpetuated the remem- 
brance of them. The land was to be divided by lot, and every 
share was to descend in an inheritance ; the frequent assem- 
blies at Jerusalem on the three great festivals, the sabbaths, 
the new moons, the sabbatical year, and the great j abilee, the 
law of the double tithe, the sacrifices of so many different 
kinds, the distinctions of meats, the prohibition of eating blood, 
together with many other particulars, v/ere all founded upon 
it. Now let it be a httle considered, whether the foundation 
of all this, I mean the five books of Moses, could be a forgery 
or not. If the Pentateuch was delivered by Moses himself to 
the Jews, and received by them as the rule both of their reli- 
gion and policy, then it is not possible to conceive, but that 
the recital of all that is contained from the book of Exodus to 
the end of Deuteronomy was known by them to be true ; and 
this establishes the credit of the whole. But if this is not 
admitted, then let it be considered in what time it can possibly 
be supposed that this imposture could have appeared. There 
is a continued series of books of their history, that goes down 
to the Babylonish captivity ; so if there was an imposture of 
this sort set on foot in that time, all that history must have 
been made upon it, and an account must have been given of 
the discovery of those books ; othervvise the imposture must 
have been too weak to have gained credit. Whereas, on the 
contrary, the whole thread of their history represents these 
books to have been always amongst them. 

The discovery made in the reign of Josias cannot be sup- 
posed to be of this sort ; since how much disorder soever the 
long and wicked reign of Manasses might have brought them 
under, and what havoc soever might have been made of the 
writings that were held sacred among them, yet it was impos- 
sible that a series of forged laws and histories could have been 
put upon them ; of which there was still a continued memory 
preserved among them ; and that they could be brought to 
believe that a book and a law full of so much history, and of 
so many various and unusual rites founded upon it, had been 
held sacred among them for many ages ; if it was but a new 
invention. Therefore this is an extravagant conceit : so that 2 Chron. 
the book, that was then found in the temple, was either the 
original of the law written by Moses's own hand ; for so the 



108 AN EXPOSITION OF 

' ' ' . 'J Jln TalV 

A R T. words may be rendered : or it may be understood of ispihe of 
VI. the last chapters of Deuteronomy^ which seem by the tenor 
Ch~xxvr them to have been at first a book by themselves, though 
16. to the afterwards joined to the rest of Deuteronomy ; and in the 
end of collection that Josias was making, these might be wanting at 
Deu xxviii. ' these there are such severe threatenings, that it 

from 36. to was no wonder if a heart so tender as Josias's was very much 
the end. aifected at the reading them. 

Upon the whole matter, there is no period in the whole his- 
tory of the Jews, to which any suspicion of such an imposture 
can be fastened before the Babylonish captivity : so it must 
be laid either upon the times of the captivity, or soon after 
their return out of it. Now, not to observe that men in such 
circumstances are seldom capable of things of that nature, can 
it be imagined that a series of books, that run through many 
ages, could have been framed so particularly, and yet so ex- 
actly, that nothing in any concurrent history could ever be 
brought to disprove any part of it ? That such a thing could 
pass in so short a time upon a whole nation, while so many 
men remembered, or might well remember, what they had 
been before the captivity, if they had not all known that it 
was true, is a most inconceivable thing. These books were so 
far from being disputed, though we see their neighbours the 
Samaritans were inclined enough to contest every thing with 
them, that all acquiesced in them, and in that second begin- 
■ ning of their being a state, as it is opened in the books of 
Esdras and Nehemiah, and in Daniel, and the three prophets 
of the second temple, all the other books were received among 
them without dispute : and their law was in such high esteem, 
that about two hundred years after that, the king of Egypt 
did with much entreaty, and at a vast charge, procure a trans- 
lation of it to be made in Greek. 

The Jewish nation, as they live much within themselves, 
where it is safe for them to profess their reHgion, so they have 
had the divine authority of their books so deeply infused into 
them from age to age, that now above sixteen hundred years, 
though it is not possible for them to practise the main parts 
of their religion, and though they suffer much for professing 
it, yet they do still adhere to it, and practise as much of it as 
they can by the law itself, which ties the chief performances 
of that religion to one determinate place. This is a firmness 
which has never yet appeared in any other religion besides the 
Jewish and the Christian : for all the several shapes of hea- 
thenism have often changed, and they all went off as soon as 
the government that supported them fell, and that another 
came in its place. Whereas these have subsisted long, not 
only without the support of the civil power, but under many 
severe persecutions : which is at least a good moral argument 
to prove, that these religions had another foundation, and a 
deeper root, than any other religion could ever pretend to. Yet, 



THE XXXIX ARTICLES. 



109 



after all^ it is not to be denied^ but that in the collection that ART. 
was made of the books of the Old Testament after the capti- 
' vity, by Ezra and others, or after that burning of many of the 
books of their law under Antiochus Epiphanes, mentioned in 
: the book of Maccabees/ that some disorder might happen; i Maccab. 
" that there might be such regard had to some copies, as not to ^^'^^ 
alter some manifest faults that were in them, but that, instead ^.^^^^ ^^(f 
of that, they might have marked on the margin that whichf ,38 moil 
was the true reading ; and a superstitious conceit might have ^^-^ 
afterwards crept in, and continued in after-ages, of a mystery 
in that matter, upon their first letting these faults continue in 
the text ^-ith the marginal annotation of the correction of them. 
There might be also other marginal annotations of the modern 
names of places set against the ancient ones, to guide the 
reader's judgment ; and afterwards the modern name might 
have been writ instead of the ancient one. These are things 
that might naturally enough happen ; and will serve to resolve 
; many objections against the texts of the Old Testament. All 
' the numbers of persons as weU as of years might also have been 
writ in numerical letters, though afterwards they came all to 
be set down in words at large : and while they were in letters, 
^'/as some might have been worn out, and lost in ancient copies, 
so others were, by the resemblance of some letters, very hke 
to be mistaken : nor could men^s memories serve them so weU 
to correct mistakes in numbers as in other matters. This may 
shew a way to reconcile many seeming differences between 
"the accounts that are variously stated in some of the books of 
*^'the Bible, and between the Hebrew and the Septuagint. In 
^'these matters our church has made no decision ; and so di- 
*^"vines are left to a just freedom in them. 
■ In general, we may safely rely upon the care and providence 
of God, and the industry of men, who are naturally apt to 
preserve things of that kind entire, which are highly valued 
' among them. And therefore we conclude, that the books of 
the Old Testament are preserved pure down to us, as to all 
^those things for which they were written ; that is, in every 
^;|thing that is either an object of faith, or a rule of life ; and as to 
'lesser matters which visibly have no relation to either of these, 
there is no reason to think that every copier was so divinely 
guided that no small error might surprise him. In fact, we 
know that there are many various readings, which might have 
arisen from the haste and carelessness of copiers, from their 
^^guessing wrong that which appeared doubtful or imperfect in 
the copy, and from a superstitious adhering to some apparent 
faults, when they found them in copies of a venerable antiquit}^ 
^^But when all those various readings are compared together, it 
appears that as they are inconsiderable, so they do not con- 
J^^feern our faith nor our morals ; the setting which right was the 
^ fnam end of revelation. The most important diversity relates 
chronology : but the account of time, especially in the first 



110 



'AN EXPOSITION OF 



ART. ages, is of no consequence to our believing rightyor to our liv- 
ing weU: and therefore, if some errors or mistakes should 
appear to be among those diiFerent readings, these give no just 
cause to doubt of the whole. And indeed, considering the 
many ages through which those books have passed, we have 
much more reason to wonder, that they are brought down to 
us so entire, and so manifestly genuine in all their main and 
important parts, than that we should see some prints of the 
frailty of those who copied and preserved them. 

It remains only upon this head to consider what inspiration 
and an inspired book is, and how far that matter is to be 
carried. When we talk with one another, a noise is made in 
the air that strikes with such vibrations on the ears of others^ 
that, by the motion thereby made on the brain of another, we 
do convey our thoughts to another person : so that the im- 
pression made on the brain is that which communicates 
our thoughts to another. By this we can easily apprehend 
how God may make such impressions on men^s brains, as 
may convey to them such things as he intends to make knowii 
to them. 

This is the general notion of inspiration : in which the man- 
ner and degree of the impression may make it at the least 
as certain that the motion comes from God, as a man may be 
certain that such a thing was told him by such a person, and 
not by any other. Now there may be different degrees both 
of the objects that are revealed, and of the manner of the 
revelation. To some it may be given in charge to deliver 
rules and laws to men : and because, that ought to be ex- 
pressed in plain words without pomp or ornament, therefore 
upon such occasions the imagination is not to be much 
agitated; but the impression must be made so naked, that 
the understanding may clearly apprehend it ; and by conse- 
quence that it may be plainly expressed. In others, the 
design may be only to employ them in order to the awaken- 
ing men to observe a law already received and owned; that 
must be done with such pompous visions of judgments com- 
ing upon the violation of those laws, as may very much alarm 
those to whom they are sent : both the representations and 
the expressions must be fitted to excite men, to terrify, and 
so to reform them. Now because the imagination, whether 
when we are transported in our thoughts being awake, or in 
dreams, is capable of having those scenes acted upon it, and 
of being so excited by them, as to utter them with pompous 
figures, and in a due rapidity ; this is another way of inspira- 
tion that is strictly called prophecy in the Old Testament. A 
great deal of the style used in this must relate to the particu- 
lars of the time to which it belongs : many allusions, hints, 
and forms of speech, must be used, that are lively and pro- 
verbial ; which cannot be understood, unless we had all those 
concurrent helps which are lost even in the next age, if not 



THE XXXIX ARTICLES. 



preserved in books, and so they must be quite lost after ART. 
many ages are past^ when no other memorials are left of the 
time in which they were transacted. This must needs make 
the far greater part of aU the prophetic writings to be very 
dark to us ; not to insist upon the pecuhar genius of the lan- 
guage in which the prophets wrote^ and on the common 
customs of those chmates and nations to this day^ that are 
very diiFerent from our own. 

A third degree of inspiration might be^ when there were 
no discoveries of future events to be made : but good and 
holy men were to be inwardly excited by God to compose 
such poems, hymns, and discourses^ as should be of great use 
both to give men clearer and fuller apprehensions of divine 
things, and also insensibly to charm them with a pleasant and 
exalted way of treating them. And if the providence of God 
should so order them in the management of their composures^, 
that it may afterwards appear that predictions were inter- 
mixed with them; yet they are not to be called prophets^ 
unless God had revealed to them the mystical intent of such 
predictions : so that though the Spirit of God prophesied in 
them, yet they themselves not understanding it, are not to 
be accounted prophets. Of this last sort are the books of 
the Psalms, Job, Proverbs, Ecclesiastes, &c. 

According to the different order of these inspirations was 
the Old Testament divided into three volumes. The inspira- 
tion of the New Testament is all to be reduced to the first 
sort, except the Revelation, which is purely and strictly pro- 
phetical. The other parts of the New Testament are writ 
after a softer and clearer illumination, and in a style suitable 
to it. Now because enthusiasts and impostors may falsely 
pretend to divine commissions and inspirations, it is neces- 
sary (both for the undeceiving of those who may be misled 
by a hot and ungoverned imagination, and for giving such 
an authority to men truly inspired, as may distinguish them 
from false pretenders) that the man thus inspired should have 
some evident sign or other, either some miraculous action 
that is visibly beyond the powers of nature, or some particu- 
lar discovery of somewhat that is to come, which must be so 
expressed, that the accomplishment of it may shew it to be 
beyond the conjectures of the most sagacious : by one or 
both of those a man must prove, and the world must be con- 
vinced, that he is sent and directed by God. And if such 
men deliver their message in writing, we must receive such 
writings as sacred and inspired. 

In these writings some parts are historical, some doctrinal, 
and some elenchtical or argumentative. As to the historical 
part, it is certain that whatsoever is delivered to us, as a mat- 
ter truly transacted, must be indeed so : but it is not neces- 
sary, when discourses are reported, that the individual words 
should be set down just as they were said; it is enough if the 



112 



AN EXPOSITION OF 



A R T. effect of them is reported : nor is it necessary tliat the order 
of time should be strictly observed^ or that all the conjunc- 
tions in such relation should be understood severely accord- 
ing to their grammatical meaning. It is visible that all the 
sacred writers write in a diversity of style^ according to their 
different tempers, and to the various impressions that were 
made upon them. In that the inspiration left them to the 
use of their faculties, and to their previous customs and habits : 
the design of revelation, as to this part of its subject, is only 
to give such representations of matters of fact, as may both 
work upon and guide our belief ; but the order of time, and 
the strict words, having no influence that way, the writers 
might dispose them, and express them, variously, and yet all 
be exactly true. For the conjunctive particles do rather im- 
port that one passage comes to be related after another, than 
that it was really transacted after it. 

As to the doctrinal parts, that is, the rules of life, which 
these books set before us, or the propositions that are offered 
to us in them, we must entirely acquiesce in these, as in the 
voice of God, who speaks to us by the means of a person, 
whom he, by his authorizing him in so wonderful a manner, 
obliges us to hear and believe. But when these writers come 
to explain or argue, they use many figures that were well 
known in that age : but because the signification of a figure 
is to be taken from common use, and not to be carried to the 
utmost extent that the words themselves will bear, we must 
therefore inquire, as much as we can, into the manner and 
phraseology of the time in which such persons lived, which 
with relation to the New Testament wiU lead us far: and 
by this we ought to govern the extent and importance of 
these figures. 

As to their arguings, we are farther to consider, that some- 
times they argue upon certain grounds, and at other times 
they go upon principles, acknowledged and received by those 
with whom they dealt. It ought never to be made the only 
way of proving a thing, to found it upon the concessions of 
those with whom we deal; yet when a thing is once truly 
proved, it is a just and usual way of confirming it, or at least 
of silencing those who oppose it, to shew that it follows 
naturally from those opinions and principles that are re- 
ceived among them. Since therefore the Jews had, at the 
time of the writing of the New Testament, a peculiar way of 
expounding many prophecies and passages in the Old Testa- 
ment, it was a very proper way to convince them, to allege 
many places according to their key and methods of exposition. 
Therefore, when divine writers argue upon any point, we are 
always bound to believe the conclusions that their reasonings 
end in, as parts of divine revelation : but we are not bound to 
be able to make out, or even to assent to, all the premises 
made use of by them in their whole extent ; unless it appears 



THE XXXIX ARTICLES. 



113 



plainly that they ai¥irm the premises as expressly as they do A R T. 
the conclusions j^roved by them. 

And thus far I have laid down such a scheme concerning 
inspiration and inspired writings, as will afford, to such as 
apprehend it aright, a solution to most of these difficulties 
with which we are urged on the account of some passages in the 
sacred writings. The laying down a scheme that asserts an im- 
mediate inspiration which goes to the style, and to every tittle, 
and that denies any error to have crept into any of the copies, 
as it seems on the one hand to raise the honour of the scrip- 
tures very highly, so it lies open, on the other hand, to 
great difficulties, which seem insuperable in that hypothesis ; 
whereas a middle way, as it settles the divine inspu'ation of 
these writings, and their being continued down genuine and 
unvitiated to us, as to all that, for which Ave can only suppose 
that inspiration was given; so it helps us more easily out of 
all difficulties, by yielding that which serves to answer them, 
without weakening the authority of the whole. 

I come in the last place to examine the negative conse- 
quence that arises out of this head, which excludes those 
books commonly called apocryphal, that are here rejected, 
from being a part of the canon : and this will be easily made 
out. The chief reason that presses us Christians to acknow- 
ledge the Old Testament is the testimony that Christ and his 
apostles gave to those books, as they were then received by 
the Jewish church ; to whom ^ were committed the oracles of 
God.' Now it is not so much as pretended, that ever these 
books were received among the Jews, or were so much as 
known to them. None of the writers of the New Testament 
cite or mention them ; neither Philo nor Josephus speaks of 
them. Josephus on the contrary says, they had only twenty- 
two books that deserved belief, but that those which were 
written after the time of Artaxerxes were not of equal credit 
with the rest : and that in that period they had no prophets 
at all. The Christian church was for some ages an utter 
stranger to those books. Melito, bishop of Sardis, being de- 
sired by Onesimus to give him a perfect catalogue of the 
books of the Old Testament, took a journey on purpose to 
the east, to examine this matter at its source : and having, as 
he says, made an exact inquiry, he sent him the names of 
them just as we receive the canon ; of which Eusebius says^ Eus. Hist, 
that he has preserved it, because it contained all those books 
which the church owned. Origen gives us the same catalogue 
according to the tradition of the Jews, who divided the Old Tn Psal. i. 
Testament into twenty-two books, according to the letters of 
their alphabet. Athanasius reckons them up in the same Synop. 
manner to be twenty-two, and he more distinctly says, 'that 
he delivered those, as they had received them by tradition, 
and as they were received by the whole church of Christ, 
because some presumed to mix apocryphal books ^vith the 

1 



-414 



AN EXPOSITION OF 



A u T. divine scriptures : and therefore he was set on it by the 
orthodox l^rethren^ in order to declare the canonical books 
delivered as such by tradition, and believed to be of divine 
inspiration. It is true/ he adds, ^that besides these there 
were other books which were not put into the canon, but yet 
were appointed by the fathers to be read by those who first 
come to be instructed in the way of piety : and then he 
reckons up most of the apocryphal books/ Here is the first 
mention we find of them, as indeed it is very probable they 
were made at Alexandria, by some of those Jews who lived 
there in great numbers. Both Hilary and Cyril of Jerusalem 
give us the same catalogue of the books of the Old Testament, 
and affirm, that they delivered them thus according to the 
Catech. 4. tradition of the ancients, Cyril says, that all other books are 
to be put in a second order. Gregory Nazianzen reckons up 
the tvfenty-two books, and adds that none besides them are 
genuine. The words that are in the Article are repeated by 
St. Jerome in several of his prefaces. And that which should 
Can. 95, determine this whole matter is, that the council of Laodicea 
and 60. express canon delivers the catalogue of the canonical 

books as we do, decreeing that these only should be read in 
the church. Now the canons of this council were afterwards 
received into the code of the canons of the universal church ; 
so that here we have the concurring sense of the whole 
church of God in this matter. 

It is true, the book of the Revelation not being reckoned 
in it, this may be urged to detract from its authority : but it 
was already proved, that that book Avas received much earlier 
into the canon of the scriptures, so the design of this canon 
being to establish the authority of those books that were to 
be read in the chmxh, the darkness of the Apocalypse making 
it appear reasonable not to read it publicly, that may be the 
reason why it is not mentioned in it, as well as in some later 
catalogues. 

Here we have four centuries clear for our canon, in exclu- 
sion to all additions. It were easy to carry this much farther 
down, and to shew that these books were never by any ex- 
press definition received into the canon till it was done at 
Trent: and that in all the ages of the church, even after 
they came to be much esteemed, there were divers writers, 
and those generally the most learned of their time, who 
denied them to be a part of the canon. At first many writ- 
ings were read in the churches, that were in high reputation 
both for the sake of the authors, and of the contents of them, 
though they were never looked on as a part of the canon: 
Can. 47. such were Clemens's Epistle, the books of Hermas, the Acts 
of the Martyrs, besides several other things which were read 
in particular churches. And among these the apocryphal 
books came also to be read, as containing some valuable books 
of instruction, besides several fragments of the Jewish history. 



THE XXXIX ARTICLES. 



115 



which were perhaps too easily believed to be true. These AK 
therefore being usually read^ they came to be reckoned among y_ 
canonical scriptures : for this is the reason assigned in the 
third council of Carthage for caUing them canonical^ because 
they had received them from their fathers as books that were 
to be read in churches : and the word canonical was by some 
in those ages used in a large sense, in opposition to spurious ; 
so that it signified no more than that they were genuine. So 
much depends upon this Article, that it seemed necessary to 
dwell fully upon it, and to state it clearly. 

It remains only to observe the diversity between the Arti- 
cles now established, and those set forth by king Edward. 
In the latter there was not a catalogue given of the books of 
scripture, nor was there any distinction stated between the 
canonical and the apocryphal books. In those there is like- 
wise a paragraph, or rather a parenthesis, added after the 
words proved thereby, in these words. Although sometimes it 
may be admitted by God's faithful people as pious, and con- 
ducing unto order and decency : which are now left out, be- 
cause the authority of the church as to matters of order and 
decency, which was only intended to be asserted by this 
period, is more fully explained and stated in the 35th Article. 



I 2 



IIG 



AN EXPOSITION OF 



A R T. 
VII. 

ARTICLE VII. 

Of the Old Testament. 

Cije Cc^tamuiit not contvari) to ti)t 0d\3 : for hot\) in t!)e 
(©It! antJ ^eb) Ccsltamntt (^bcrla/ting; %ih i<i ofTei'ttr to JHanfeintr 
hy €l)vktf M)o ti)t only pietJiator Jjttioeeit (^oti aiiU Plan, 
bnng tiotij (SoU antl iMait. OTljerefoit tijty are not to t)tntti 
hiljid) fci'gn t^at tl;e <©ltl dTatljers; tJttl look onb for Crani^ttor^ 
iProim^t^. 

^Itfioug!) ti)t ilali) gttjm from (SolJ Moses, asJ touci)m3 C^re^ 
monies autr 5^ite^, tlo not binU Cljri^tian iMtn, nor t]^e Cibil 
3Prectpt£{ tjn-cof ougI;t of nm^iSiti) to be rtceibetf in any Coin^ 
monlutalt]^, ^et notluitf)i>tanl3tng no Cfjrt^tian ilflan bI;at!gotber 
{«! free from t\)t (©betlience of ti)t CommantJment;^ b)f)ic^ are calleU 
Ploral. 

This Article is made up of the sixth and the nineteenth of 
king Edward^s Articles laid together : only the nineteenth 
of king Edward^s has these words after moral: Wherefore 
they are not to be heard, which teach that the holy scriptures 
were given to none but to the weak; and brag continually of the 
Spirit, by which they do pretend that all whatsoever they preach 
is suggested to them; though manifestly contrary to the holy 
scriptures. This whole Article relates to the Antinomians^ as 
these last words were added by reason of the extravagance of 
some enthusiasts at that time; but that madness having 
ceased in queen Elizabeth's time, it seems it was thought 
that there was no more occasion for those words. 

There are four heads that do belong to this Article : First, 
that the Old Testament is not contrary to the New. Secondly, 
that Christ was the Mediator in both dispensations, so that 
salvation was offered in both by him. Thirdly, that the cere- 
monial and the judiciary precepts in the law of Moses do not 
bind Christians. Fourthly, that the moral law does still bind 
all Christians. 

To the first of these the Manichees of old, who fancied that 
there was a bad as well as a good God, thought that these 
two great principles were in a perpetual struggle ; and they 
believed the old dispensation was under the bad one, which 
was taken away by the new, that is the work of the good God. 
But they Avho held such monstrous tenets must needs reject 
the whole New Testament, or very much corrupt it : since 
there is nothing plainer, than that the prophets of the Old 
foretold the New with approbation; and the writers of the 
New prove both their commission and their doctrine from 
passages of the Old Testament. This therefore could not be 



THE XXXIX ARTICLES. 



117 



affirmed without rejecting many of the books that we own^ ART. 
and corrupting the rest. So this deserves no more to be con- 
sidered. 

Upon this occasion it will be no improper digression^ to 
consider what revelation those under the Mosaical law^ or that 
lived before it, had of the Messias : this is an important mat- 
ter : it is a great confirmation of the truth of the Christian 
rehgion, as it will furnish us with proper arguments against 
the Jews. It is certain they have long had, and stiU have, 
an expectation of a Messias. Now the characters and predic- 
tions concerning this person must have been fulfilled long ago : 
or the prophecies mil be found to be false : and if they do 
meet and were accomphshed in our Saviour's person, and if 
no other person could ever pretend to this, then that which is 
undertaken to be proved will be fully performed. The first 
promise to Adam after his sin, speaks of an enmity between 
the seed of the serpent and the seed of the woman : *^It shall Gen.iii.i5. 
bruise thy head, and thou shalt bruise his heel.^ The one 
might hurt the other in some lesser instances, but the other 
was to have an entire victory at last ; which is plainly signified 
by the figures of bruising the heel, and bruising the head, 
which was to be performed by one who was to bear this cha- 
racter of being the woman^s seed. The next promise was 
made to Abraham, ^In thee shall all the families of the Gen.xii. 3. 
earth be blessed :^ this was lodged in his seed or posterity, 
upon his being ready to offer up his son Isaac: that promise Gen. xxvi. 
was renewed to Isaac, and after him to Jacob : when he w^as 24. 
d}dng, it was lodged by him in the tribe of Judah, w^hen he Gen.xxvm. 
prophesied, that '^the sceptre should not depart from Judah, Gen. xlix. 
nor the lawgiver from between his feet, till Shiloh should 10- 
come; and the gathering of the people,^ that is, of the Gen- 
tiles, ^was to be to him.^ It is certain the ten tribes were 
lost in their captivity, whereas the tribe of Judah w^as brought 
back, and continued to be a political body under their own 
laws, till a breach was made upon that by the Romans first 
reducing them to the form of a province, and soon after that 
destroying them utterly : so that either that prediction was 
not accomplished : or the Shiloh, the Sent, to whom the Gen- 
tiles w^ere to be gathered, came before they lost their sceptre 
and laws. 

Moses told the people of Israel, that God '^was to raise up Deut.xvlii. 
among them a prophet like unto him, to Avhom they ought to 
hearken,' othervvise God would ^require it of them.^ The 
character of Moses was, that he was a lawgiver, and the author 
of an entire body of instituted religion ; so they were to look 
for such a one. Balaam prophesied darkly of one whom he 
saw as at a great distance from his own time ; and he spoke 
of a ^ Star that should come out of Jacob, and a sceptre out Num.xxiv. 
of Israel some memorial of which was probably preserved 
among the Arabians. In the book of Psalms there are many 



118 



AN EXPOSITION OF 



A R T. things said of David^ which seem capable of a much auguster 
^J'' sense than can be pretended to be answered by any thing that 
befell himself. What is said in the 2dy the 16th^ the 22d, 
the 45th^ the 102d5 and the 110th Psalms^ affords us copious 
instances of this. Passages in these Psalms must be stretched 
by figures that go very high^ to think they were all fulfilled 
in David or Solomon : but in their literal and largest sense 
they were accomplished in Christy to whom God said^ ^ Thou 
art my son, this day have I begotten thee.^ In him that was 
verified, 'Thou wilt not leave my soul in hell, neither wilt 
thou suffer thy Holy One to see corruption. His hands and 
his feet were pierced, and lots were cast upon his vesture.^ Of 
him it may be strictly said, ' Thy throne, O God, is for ever 
and ever.' To him that belonged, ' The Lord said unto my 
Lord, Sit thou on my right hand, till I make thine enemies 
thy footstool.^ And, ' The Lord sware and will not repent. 
Thou art a priest for ever after the order of Melchisedeck.' 

The prophets gave yet more express predictions concerning 
the Messias. Isaiah did quiet the fears of Ahaz, and of the 
Isa.vii. 14. house of David, by saying, 'The Lord himself shall give you 
a sign. Behold, a virgin shall conceive and bear a son.' It 
was certainly no sign for one that was a virgin^ to conceive 
afterwards and bear a son ; therefore the sign or extraordinary 
thing here promised as a signal pledge of God's care of the 
house of David, must lie in this, that one still remaining a vir- 
gin should conceive and bear a son ; not to insist upon the 
strict signification of the word in the original. The same 
isa. xi. 1, prophet did also foretell, that as this Messias, or the Branch, 
^- should spring from the stem of Jesse, so also he was to be 

Ver. 10. f^u of the Spirit of the Lord ; and ' that the Gentiles should 
seek to him.^ In another place he enumerates many of the 
miracles that should be done by him : he was to give sight to 
Isa. XXXV. the blind, make the deaf to hear, the lame to walk. He does 
^' ^' further set forth his character ; not that of a warrior or con- 
isa. xiii. 1 queror; on the contrary, 'He was not to cry nor strive, nor 
break the bruised reed, or quench the smoking flax ; he was 
to bring forth judgment to the Gentiles, and the isles were to 
Isa. liii. wait for his law.' There is a whole chapter in the same pro- 
phet, setting forth the mean appearance that the Messias was 
to make, the contempt he was to fall under, and the sufferiiigs 
he was to bear ; and that for the sins of others, which were to 
be laid on him ; so that his soul or life was to be made an 
offering for sin, in reward of which he was to be highly exalted. 
Isa. Ixi. In another place his mission is set forth, not in the strains of 
war, or of conquest, but of preaching to the poor, setting the 
prisoners free as in a year of jubilee, and comforting the 
afflicted and such as mourned. In the two last chapters of 
that prophet mention is made more particularly of the Gen- 
tiles that were to be called by him, and the isles that were afar 
off, out of whom God was to take some for priests and Levites ! 



THE XXXIX ARTICLES. 



119 



which shewed plainly^ that a new dispensation was to be A R T. 
opened by him, in which the Gentiles were to he priests and 
Levites, which could not be done while the Mosaical law stood, 
that had tied these functions to the tribe of Levi, and to the 
house of Aaron. Jeremy renewed the promise to the house 
of David, of ' a king that should reign and prosper ; in whose Jer. xxiii. 
days Judah and Israel were to dwell safely, whose name was ^• 
to be. The Lord our Righteousness/ It is certain this promise 
was never literally accomplished ; and therefore recourse must 
be had to a mystical sense. The same prophet gives a large 
account of a ^ new covenant that God was to make with the Jer. xxxi. 
house of Israel, not according to the covenant that he made ^^—^"^ 
with their fathers, when he brought them out of Egypt.' We 
have also two characters given of that covenant : one is, that 
God ^ would put his law in their inward parts, and write it in 
their hearts that he would be their God, and that they should 
all be taught of him : the other is, ^ that he would forgive their 
iniquities, and remember their sin no more.^ One of these is 
in opposition to their law, that consisted chiefly in rituals, and 
had no promises of inward assistances ; and the other is in 
opposition to the limited pardon that was offered, in that dis- 
pensation, on the condition of the many sacrifices that they 
were required to offer. There is a prediction to the same pur- 
pose in Ezekiel. Joel prophesied of an extraordinary effusion Ezek. 
of the Spirit of God on great numbers of persons, old and ^^J^^'' 
young, that was to happen before the great and terrible day j(Jg'i 28, 
of the Lord, that is, before the final destruction of Jerusalem. &c. 
Micah, after he had foretold several things of the dispensation Micah v. 2. 
of the Messiah, says that he was to come out of Bethlehem 
Ephratah. Haggai encouraged those who were troubled at Hag. ii. 6 
the meanness of the temple, which they had raised after their 
return out of the captivity. It had neither the outward glory 
in its fabric that Solomon^s temple had, nor the more real 
glory of the ark, with the tables of the Law ; of fire from hea- 
ven on the altar ; of a succession of prophets ; of the Urim and 
Thummvniy and the cloud between the cherubims ; which last, 
strictly speaking, was the glory ; all which had been in Solo- 
mon^s temple, but were wanting in that. In opposition to 
this, the prophet, in the name of God, promised that he would 
in a little while shake the heavens and the earth,^ and ^ shake 
all nations;' words that import some surprising and great 
change ; upon which the ^ desire of all nations should come, 
and God would fill the house with his glory and the glory 
of this latter house should exceed the glory of the former, for 
in that place God would give peace.' Here is a plain pro- 
phecy, that this temple was to have a glory, not only equal 
but superior to the glory of Solomon's temple : these words 
are too august to be believed to have been accomplished, when 
Herod rebuilt the temple with much magnificence ; for that 
was nothing in comparison of the real glory, of the symbols 



120 



AN EXPOSITION OF 



A II T. of the presence of God^ that were wanting in it. This cannot 
^ answer the words^ that the desire of all nations was to come, 
and that God would give peace in that place. So that either 
this prophecy was never fulfilled : or somewhat must be 
assigned during the second temple, that will answer those 
solemn expressions, which are plainly applicable to our Sa- 
viour, who was the expectation of the Gentiles, by whom peace 
was made, and in w^hom the eternal Word dwelt in a manner 
Zecli.ix.9. ij^£j^j|.g|y YnQYQ august than in the cloud of glory.* Zechary 
prophesied that their King, by which they understood the 
Messias, was to be meek and lowly, and that he was to make 
his entrance in a very mean appearance, riding on an ass : but 
yet under that, he was to bring salvation to them, and they 
Mai. iii. 1, Were to rejoice greatly in him, Malachi told them, that ' the 
^' Lord whom they sought, even the messenger of the covenant 

in whom they delighted, should suddenly come into his tem- 
ple ;^ and that the day of his coming was to be dreadful ; that 
he was to refine and purify, in particular, the sons of Levi ; and 
a terrible destruction is denounced after that. One character 



* ' It cannot be conceived how the glory of the second temple should be greater 
than the glory of the first, without the coming of the Messias to it. For the Jews 
themselves have observed that five signs of the divine glory were in the first temple, 
which were wanting in the second : as the Urim and Thummim, by which the high- 
priest was miraculously instructed of the will of God ; the ark of the covenant, from 
whence God gave his answers by a clear and audible voice ; the fire upon the altar, 
which came down from heaven, and immediately consumed the sacrifice ; the divine 
presence or habitation with them, represented by a visible appearance, or given, as 
it were, to the king and high-priest by anointing with the oil of unction ; and, lastly, 
the spirit of prophecy, with which those especially who were called to the propheti- 
cal office were endued. And there was no comparison between the beauty and 
glory of the structure and building of it, as appeared by the tears dropped from 
those eyes which had beheld the former, (" For many of the priests and Levites 
and chief of the fathers, who were ancient men, that had seen the first house, when 
the foundation of this house was laid before their eyes, wept with a loud voice ;" Ezra 
iii. 12.) and by those words which God commanded Haggai to speak to the people 
for the introducing of this prophecy, " Who is left among you that saw this house 
in her first glory ? And how do you see it now ? Is it not in your eyes in com- 
parison of it as nothing ?" ( Hag. ii. 3. ) Being then the structure of the second 
temple was so far inferior to the first, being all those signs of the divine glory were 
wanting in it with which the former was adorned ; the glory of it can no other way 
be imagined greater, than by the coming of Him into it, in whom all the signs of 
the divine glory were far more eminently contained ; and this person alone is 
the Messias. For he was to be the glory of the people Israel, yea, even of the God 
of Israel ; he the Urim and Thummim, by whom the will of God, as by a greater 
oracle, was revealed ; he the true ark of the covenant, the only propitiatory by his 
blood ; he which was to baptize with the Holy Ghost and with fire, the true fire 
which came down from heaven ; he which was to take up his habitation in our 
flesh, and to dwell among us that we might behold his glory ; he who received the 
Spirit without measure, and from whose fulness we do all receive. In him were 
all those signs of the Divine Glory united, which were thus divided in the first 
temple ; in him they were all more eminently contained than in those ; therefore 
his coming to the second temple was, as the sufficient, so the only means by which 
the glory of it could be greater than the glory of the first. If then the Mesiias was 
to come while the second temple stood, as appeared by God's prediction and pro- 
mise ; if that temple many ages since hath ceased to be, there being not one stone 
left upon a stone ; if it certainly were before the destruction of it in greater glory 
than ever the former was ; if no such glory could accrue unto it but by the coming 
of the Messias : then is that Messias already come.' Pearson on the Creed, pp. 127, 
128. Dobion's edition.— [Ed.] 



THE XXXIX ARTICLES. 



121 



of his coming was^ that Elijah the prophet was to come before ART. 

that great and dreadful day, who should convert many, old 

and young. Now it is certain that no other person came, Mai. iv. 5, 

during the second temple, to whom these words can be ap- 6. 

plied : so that they were not accomplished, unless it was in 

the person of our Saviour, to whom all these characters do 

well agree. 

But to conclude with that prophecy which of all others is 
the most particular: when Daniel at the end of the seventy Dan.ix.24 
years^ captivity was interceding for that nation, an angel was —27. 
sent to him to tell him, that they were to have a new period 
of seventy weeks, that is, seven times seventy years, 490 years ; 
and that after sixty-two weeks, Messiah the Prince ivas to come, 
and to be cut off; and that then the people of a prince should 
destroy the city and the sanctuary ; and the end of these was 
to be as with a flood or inundation, and desolations were deter- 
mined to the end of the war. They were to be destroyed by 
abominable armies, that is, by idolatrous armies ; they were 
to be made desolate, till an utter end or consummation should 
be made of them. The pomp, with which this destruction is 
set forth, plainly shews, that the final ruin of the J ews by the 
Roman armies is meant by it. From which it is justly inferred, 
not only that, if that vision was really sent from God by an 
angel to Daniel, and in consequence to that was fulfilled, then 
the Messiah did come, and was cut off during the continuance 
of J erusalem and the temple ; but that it happened within a 
period of time designed in that vision. Time was then com- 
puted more certainly than it had been for many ages before. 
Two great measures were fixed ; one at Babylon by Nabonasser, 
and another in Greece in the Olympiads. Here a prediction 
is given almost five hundred years before the accomplishment, 
with many very nice reckonings in it. I will not now enter 
upon the chronology of this matter, on which some great men 
have bestowed their labours very happily. Archbishop Usher 
has stated this matter so, that the interval of time is clearly 
four hundred eighty-six years. The covenant was to be con- 
firmed with many for one week, in the midst of which God 
was to cause the sacrifice and oblation for sin to cease ; w^hich 
seems to be a mystical way of describing the death of Christ, 
that was to put an end to the virtue of the Judaical sacrifices ; 
so sixty-nine weeks and a half make just four hundred eighty- 
six years and a half. But without going farther into this cal- 
culation, it is evident, that during the second temple, the Mes- 
sias was to come, and to be cut off, and that soon after that 
a prince was to send an army to destroy both city and sanc- 
tuary. The J ews do not so much as pretend that during that 
temple the Messias thus set forth did come, or was cut off ; 
so either the prediction failed in the event : or the Messias 
did come within that period. 

And thus, a thread of the prophecies of the Messias being 



122 



AN EXPOSITION OF 



A n T. carried down through the whole Old Testament^ it seems to be 
fully made out^ that he was to be of the seed of Abraham, 
and of the posterity of David : that the tribe of Judah was to 
be a distinct policy, till he should come : that he should work 
many miracles : that he was to be meek and lowly : that his 
function was to consist in preaching to the afflicted, and in 
comforting them : that he was to call the Gentiles, and even 
the remote islands, to the knowledge of God : that he was to 
be born of a virgin, and at Bethlehem : that he was to be a 
new lawgiver, as Moses had been : that he was to settle his 
followers upon a new covenant, different from that made by 
Moses : that he was to come during the second temple : that 
he was to make a mean, but a joyful entrance to Jerusalem : 
that he was to be cut off: that the iniquities of us all were to 
be laid on him ; and that his life was to be made an offering 
for sin ; but that God was to give him a glorious reward for 
these his sufferings ; and that his doctrine was to be internal, 
accompanied with a free offer of pardon, and of inward assist- 
ances ; and that after his death the Jews were to fall under a 
terrible curse, and an utter extirpation. When this is all 
summed up together ; when it appears, that there was never 
any other person to whom those characters did agree, but 
that they did all meet in our Saviour, we see what light the 
Old Testament has given us in this matter. Here a nation 
that hates us and our religion, who are scattered up and down 
the world, who have been for many ages without their temple, 
and without their sacrifices, without priests, and without their 
genealogies, who yet hold these books among them in a due 
veneration, which furnish us with so full a proof, that the 
Messiah whom they still look for, is the Lord Jesus whom 
we worship. We do now proceed to other matters. 

The Jews pretend, that it is a great argument against the 
authority of the New Testament, because it acknowledges the 
Old to be from God, and yet repeals the far greater part of 
the laws enacted in it; though those laws are often said to be 
^ laws for ever,' and ^ throughout all generations.^ Now they 
seem to argue with some advantage, who say, that what God 
does declare to be a law that shall be perpetual by any one 
prophet, cannot be abrogated or reversed by another, since 
that other can have no more authority than the former pro- 
phet had : and if both are of God, it seems the one cannot 
make void that which was formerly declared by the other in the 
name of God. But it is to be considered, that by the phrases 
of 'a statute for ever/ or '^throughout all generations,^ can 
only be meant, that such laws were not transient laws, such 
as were only to be observed whilst they marched through the 
wilderness, or upon particular occasions ; whereas such laws, 
which were constantly and generally to be observed, were to 
them perpetual. But that does not import that the lawgiver 
himself had parted with all the authority, that naturally be- 



THE XXXIX ARTICLES. 



123 



longs to him^ over his own laws. It only says, that the j^eo- A RT. 

pie had no power over such laws to repeal or change them : 

they were to bind them always ; but that puts no hmitation 
on the lawgiver himself, so that he might not alter his own 
constitutions. Positive precepts, which have no real value in 
themselves, are of their own nature alterable: and as in human 
laws the words of enacting a law for all future times do only 
make that to be a perpetual law for the subjects, but do not 
at all limit the legislative power, which is as much at liberty 
to abrogate or alter it, as if no such words had been in the 
law ; there are also many hints in the Old Testament, which 
shew that the precepts of the Mosaical law were to be altered : 
many plain intimations are given of a time and state, in which 
the knowledge of God was to be spread over all the earth : 
and that God was every where to be worshipped. Now this 
was impossible to be done without a change in their law and 
rituals : it being impossible that all the world should go up 
thrice a year to worship at Jerusalem, or could be served by 
priests of the Aaronical family. Circumcision was a distinc- 
tion of one particular race, which needed not to be continued 
after all were brought under one denomination, and mthin the 
same common privileges. 

These things hitherto mentioned belong naturally to this 
part of the Article: yet, in the intention of those who framed 
it, these words relate to an extravagant sort of enthusiasts 
that lived in those days ; who, abusing some ill-understood 
phrases concerning justification by Christ without the works 
of the law, came to set up very wild notions, which were bad 
in themselves, but much more pernicious in their conse- 
quences. They therefore fancied that a Christian was tied 
by no law, as a rule or yoke ; all these being taken away by 
Christ: they said indeed, that a Christian by his renovation 
became a law to himself ; he obeyed not any written rule or 
law, but a new inward nature : and thus as it is said that Sa- 
docus mistook his master Antigonus, who taught his disciples 
to serve God, not for the hope of a rev/ard, but without any 
expectations, as if he by that affectation of sublimity had 
denied that there was any reward ; and from thence sprung 
the sect of the Sadducees : so these men, perhaps at first 
mistaking the meaning of the New Testament, went wrong 
only in their notions and still meant to press the necessity 
of true hohness, though in another set of phrases, and upon 
other motives ; yet from thence many wild and ungoverned 
notions arose then, and were not long ago revived among us : 
all which flowed from their not understanding the importance 
of the word law in the New Testament, in which it stands 
most commonly for the complex of the whole Jewish religion, 
in opposition to the Christian; as the word laiu, when it 
stands for a book, is meant of the five books of Moses, 

The maintaining the whole frame of that dispensation, in 



124 



AN EXPOSITION OF 



ART opposition to that liberty which the apostles granted to the 

Gentiles^ as to the ritual parts of it, was the controversy then 

in debate between the apostles and the Judaizing Christians. 
The stating that matter aright is a key that will open all 
those difficulties, which with it will appear easy, and without 
it insuperable. In opposition to these, who thought then 
that the Old Testament^ having brought| the world on to the 
knowledge of the Messias, was now of no more use, this Arti- 
cle was framed. 

The second part of the Article relates to a more intricate 
matter ; and that is, whether in the Old Testament there were 
any promises made, other than transitory or temporal ones, 
and whether they might look for eternal salvation in that 
dispensation, and upon what account ? Whether Christ was 
the Mediator in that dispensation, or if they were saved by 
virtue of their obedience to the laws that were then given 
them ? Those who deny that Christ was truly God, think 
that in order to the raising him to those great characters in 
which he is proposed in the New Testament, it is necessary 
to assert that he gave the first assurances of eternal happi- 
ness, and of a free and full pardon of all sins in his gospel : 
and that in the Old Testament neither the one nor the other 
were certainly and distinctly understood. 

It is true, that if we take the words of the covenant that 
Moses made between God and the people of Israel strictly 
and as they stand, they import only temporal blessings : that 
was a covenant with a body of men and with their posterity, 
as they were a people engaged to the obedience of that law. 
Now a national covenant could only be established in tem- 
poral promises of public and visible blessings, and of a long 
continuance of them upon their obedience, and in threaten- 
ings of as signal judgments upon the violation of them : but 
under those general promises of what was to happen to them 
collectively, as they made up one nation, every single person 
among them might, and the good men among them did, gather 
the hopes of a future state. It is clear that Moses did all 
along suppose the being of God, the creation of the world, 
and the promise of the Messias, as things fully known and 
carried down by tradition to his days : so it seems he did 
also suppose the knowledge of a future state, which was then 
generally believed by the Gentiles as well as the Jews ; though 
they had only dark and confused notions about it. But when 
God was establishing a covenant with the Jewish nation, a 
main part of which was his giving them the land of Canaan 
for an inheritance, it was not necessary that eternal rewards or 
punishments should be then proposed to them ; but from the 
tenor of the promises made to their forefathers, and from the 
general principles of natural religion, not yet quite extin- 
guished among them, they might gather this, that under those 
carnal promises, blessings of a higher nature were to be un- 



THE XXXIX ARTICLES. 



125 



derstood. And so we see that David had the hope of arriving A RT 

' at the presence of God/ and ' at his right hand/ where he 

beheved there was '^a fuhiess of joy, and pleasures for ever- ps.xvi. ii. 
more and he puts himself in this opposition to the wicked, Ps- xvii. 
that whereas ^ their portion was in this life, and they left ' ' 
their substance to their children / he says, that as for him, he 
should '^behold God^s face in righteousness,^ and should ^be 
satisfied when he awaked with his likeness/ which seems 
plainly to relate to a state after this life, and to the resurrec- 
tion. He carries this opposition farther in another Psalm, 
where after he had said, that ^ men in honour did not con- 
tinue, but were like the beasts that perished : that none of 
them could purchase immortality for his brother ; that he 
should still live for ever, and not see corruption: they all 
died and left their wealth to others, and like sheep they were 
laid in the grave, where death should feed on them in oppo- 
sition to which he says, that 'the upright should have do- 
minion over them in the morning:^ which is clearly a poetical 
expression for another day that comes after the night of 
death. As for himself in particular, he says, that ^ God shall 
redeem my soul (that is, his life, or his body, for in those 
senses the word soul is used in the Old Testament) from the 
power of the grave that is, from continuing in that state of 
death ; for ^ he shall receive me.^ This does very clearly set 
forth David^s belief both of future happiness, and of the re- 
surrection of his body. To which might be added some other Ps. ixxxiv. 
l^assages in the Psalms, Ecclesiastes, Isaiah, and Daniel: in 
all which it appears, that the holy men in that dispensation did ^^Yl ^ 
understand, that under those promises in the books of Moses xcvi. 13. 
that seemed literally to belong to the land of Canaan, and Ecci. xi.9. 
other temporal blessings, there was a spiritual meaning hid, j g 
which it seems was conveyed down by that succession of pro- xxvi. ]9 
phets, that was among them, as the mystical sense of them. Dan.xii.2. 

It is to this that our Saviour seems to appeal, when the 
Sadducees came to puzzle him with that question of the 
seven brethren, who had all married one wife : he first tells 
them, Hhey erred, not knowing the Scriptures / which plainly ^i^tt. xxii. 
imports, that the doctrine, which they denied, was contained 
in the scriptures : and then he goes to prove it, not from 
those more express passages that are in the prophets and holy 
writers, which as some think the Sadducees rejected; but 
from the law, which being the source of their religion, it might 
seem a just prejudice against any doctrine, especially if it was 
of great consequence, that it was not contained in the law. 
Therefore he cites these words that are so often repeated, and 
that were so much considered by the Jews, as containing in 
them the foundation of God^s love to them ; that God said 
upon many occasions, particularly at his first appearance to 
Moses, ' I am the God of Abraham, the God of Isaac, and Ver.31,32. 
the God of Jacob/ Which words imported not only that g 



126 



AN EXPOSITION OF 



A R T. God had been their God, but still was their God : now when 
God is said to be a God to any, by that is meant, that he is 
their benefactor, or exceeding rich reward, as was promised 
to Abraham. And that therefore Abraham, Isaac, and Jacob 
lived unto God, that is, were not dead ; but were then in a 
happy state of life, in which God did reward them, and so 
was their God. Whether this argument rests here, our 
Saviour designing only to prove, against the main error of 
the Sadducees, that we have souls distinct from our bodies, 
that shall outlive their separation from them ; or if it goes 
further to prove the rising of the body itself, I shall not de- 
termine. On the one hand our Saviour seems to apply him- 
self particularly to prove the resurrection of the body ; so we 
must see how to find here an argument for that, to answer 
the scope of the whole discourse : yet on the other hand it 
may be said, that he having proved the main point of the 
souFs subsisting after death, which is the foundation of all 
religion ; the other point which was chiefly denied, because 
that was thought false, would be more easily both acknow- 
ledged and believed. 

As for the resurrection of the body, all that can be brought 
from hence as an argument to prove it is, that since God was 
the God of Abraham, Isaac, and Jacob, and by consequence 
their benefactor and rewarder, and yet they were pilgrims on 
this earth, and suffered many tossings and troubles, that 
therefore they must be rewarded in another state: or be- 
cause God promised that to them he would give the land of 
Canaan, as well as to their seed after them, and since they 
never had any portion of it in their own possession, that 
therefore they shall rise again, and with the other saints reign 
on earth, and have that promise fulfilled in themselves. 

From all this the assertion of the Article is as to one main 
point made good, that the old fathers looked for more than 
transitory promises : it is also clear, that they looked for a 
further pardon of sin, than that which their law held forth to 
them in the expiation made by sacrifices. Sins of ignorance, 

Heb.x.28. or sins of a lower sort, were those only for which sin or tres- 
pass-offerings were appointed. The sins of a higher order 
were punished by death, by the hand of Heaven, or by 
cutting off"; so that such as sinned in that kind were to die 
without mercy: yet when David had fallen into the most 

Psal. li. 1, heinous of those sins, he prays to God for a pardon, accord- 

2, 16. 17. God^s loving-kindness, and the multitude of his tender 

mercies : for he knew that they were beyond the expiation 
by sacrifice. The prophets do often call the Jews to repent 
of their idolatry and other crying sins, such as oppression, 
injustice, and murder; with the promise of the pardon of 

Isa. i. 18. them ; even though they were of the deepest dye, as crimson 
and scarlet. Since then for lesser sins an expiation was ap- 
pointed by sacrifice, besides their confessing and repenting 



THE XXXIX ARTICLES. 



127 



i)f it ; and since it seems, by St. PauFs way of arguing, that ART. 

they held it for a maxim, that ' without shedding of blood 

there was no remission of sins;^ this might naturally lead Heb.ix. 
them to think that there was some other consideration that 22. 
was interposed in order to the pardoning of those more 
heinous sins : for a greater degree of guilt seems by a na- 
tural proportion to demand a higher degree of sacrifice and 
expiation. But after all, whatsoever Isaiah, Daniel, or any Isa. liii. 
other prophet, might have understood or meant by those 
sacrificatory phrases that they use in speaking of the Messiah, 
yet it cannot be said from the Old Testament, that in that 
dispensation it was clearly revealed that the Messias was to 
die, and to become a sacrifice for sin : the Messias was 
indeed promised under general terms; but there was not then 
a full and explicit revelation of his being to die for the re- 
demption of mankind ; yet since the most heinous sins were 
then pardoned, though not by virtue of the sacrifices of that 
covenant, nor by the other means prescribed in it, we have 
good reason to affirm, that, according to this Article, life was 
offered to mankind in the old dispensation by Christ, who 
was, with relation to obtaining the favour of God, and ever- 
lasting life, the Mediator of that as well as of the new dispen- 
sation. In the New Testament he is set in opposition to the 
old Adam, ^ that as in the one all died, so in the other all 1 Cor. xv. 
were made alive :^ nor is it any way incongruous to say, that 22. 
the merit of his death should by an anticipation have saved 
those who died before he was born : for that being in the 
view of God as certain before, as after it was done, it might 
be in the divine intention the sacrifice for the old, as well as 
it is expressly declared to be the sacrifice for the new dispen- 
sation. And this being so, God might have pardoned sins in 
consideration of it, even to those who had no distinct appre- 
hensions concerning it. For as God applies the death of 
Christ, by the secret methods of his grace, to many persons 
whose circumstances do render them incapable of the express 
acts of laying hold on it, the want of those (for instance, in 
infants and idiots) being supplied by the goodness of God : 
so though the revelation that was made of the Messias to 
the fathers imder the old dispensation, was only in general 
and prophetical terms, of which they could not have a clear 
and distinct knowledge; yet his death might be applied to 
them, and their sins pardoned through him, upon their per- 
forming such acts as were proportioned to that dispensation, 
and to the revelation that was then made ; and so they were 
reconciled to God even after sins, for which no sacrifices were 
appointed by their dispensation, upon their repentance and 
obedience to the foederal acts and conditions then required, 
which supplied the want of more express acts with relation 
to the death of Christ, not then distinctly revealed to them. 
But though the old fathers had a conveyance of the hope of 



128 



AN EXPOSITION OF 



A R 'i\ eternal life made to them, with a resurrection of their bodies, 
and a confidence in the mercy of God, for pardoning the most 
' heinous sins ; yet it cannot be denied, but that it was as 

2Pet. i. ^Ei light that shined in a dark place, till the day-star did 
arise,^ and that Christ ^brought life and immortality to light 
by his gospel;^ giving us fuller and clearer discoveries of it, 
both with relation to our souls and bodies ; and that by him 

Rom. iii. also God ' has declared his righteousness for the remission of 

24, 25. sins, through the forbearance of God, through the redemp- 
tion that is in Christ Jesus, and through faith in his blood/ 

The third branch of this Article will not need much expla- 
nation, as it will bear no dispute, except with Jews, who do 
not acknowledge the New Testament. The ceremonial parts 
of the Mosaical law, which comprehends all both the negative 
and the positive precepts, were enjoined the Jews either with 
relation to the worship of God and service at the temple, or 
to their persons and course of life. 

That which is not moral of its own nature, or that had/no 
relation to civil society, was commanded them, to separate 
them not only from the idolatrous and magical practices of 
other nations, but to distinguish them so entirely as to all 
their customs, even in the rules of eating and of cleanness, 
that they might have no familiar commerce with other nations, 
but live within and among themselves ; since that was very 
likely to corrupt them, of which they had very large experience. 
Some of those rituals were perhaps given them as punishments 
for. their frequent revolts, and were as a yoke upon them, who 
were so prone to idolatry. They were as rudiments and 
remembrances to them : they were as it v/ere subdued by a 
great variety of precepts, which were matter both of much 
charge and great trouble to them : by these they Vvxre also 
amused; for it seems they did naturally love a pompous exte- 
rior in religion ; they were also, by all that train of perform- 
ances which were laid on them, kept in mind both of the great 
blessings of God to them, and of the obligations that lay on 
them towards God; and many of those, particularly their 
sacrifices and washings, were typical. All this was proper 
and necessary to restrain and govern them, while they were 
the only people in the world that renounced idolatry, and 
worshipped the true God : and therefore so soon as that of 
which they had an emblem in the structure of their temple 
(of a court of the Gentiles separated with a middle wall of 
partition, from the place in which the Israelites worshipped) 
was to be removed, and that the house of God was to become 
^a house of prayer to all nations,^ then all those distinctions 
were to be laid aside, and all that service was to determine 
and come to an end. The apostles did declare, that the Gen- 
tiles were not to be brought under that heavy yoke, which 

Acts XV. their fathers were not able to bear ; yet the apostles them- 
selves, as born Jews, and while they lived among the Jews, 



THE XXXIX ARTICLES. 



129 



did continue in the observance of their rites, as long as God ART. 
seemed to be waiting for the remnant of that nation that was ^ 
to be saved, before his ^^Tath came upon the rest to the utter- 
most. They went to the temple, they purified themselves ; 
and, in a word, ' to the Jcavs they became J ews ;^ and in this 
compliance, the first converts of the Jewish nation continued 
till the destruction of Jerusalem ; after which, it became im- 
possible to observe the greatest part of their most important ' """^ 
rituals, even all those that were tied to the temple. But that na- 
tion losing its genealogies, and all the other chai'acters that they 
formerly had of a nation under the favour and protection of 
God, could no more know after a few ages, whether they were 
the seed of Abraham or not, or whether there were any left 
among them of the tribe of Levi, or of the family of Aaron. 
So that now all those ceremonies are at an end ; many of them Heb. x. 
are become impossible, and the rest useless ; as the whole was 
abrogated by the authority of the apostles, who being sent of 
God, and proving their mission by miracles, as well as Moses 
had done his, they might well have loosed and dissolved those 
2:)recepts upon earth, upon which, according to our Saviour's 
words, they are to be esteemed as loosed in heaven. 

The judiciary parts of the law were those that related to 
them as they were a society of men, to whom God by a special 
command gave authority to drive out and destroy a wicked 
race of people, and to possess their land ; which God appointed 
to be divided equally among them, and that every portion 
should be as a perpetuity to a family ; so that though it might 
be mortgaged out for a number of years, yet it was afterwards 
to revert to the family. Upon this bottom they were at first 
set ; and they were still to be preserved upon it ; so that many" 
laws were given them as they were a civil society, which can- 
not belong to any other society : and therefore their whole 
judiciary law, except when any parts of it are founded on 
moral equity, was a complicated thing, and can belong to no 
other nation, that is not in its first and essential constitution 
made and framed as they were. For instance ; the prohibition 
of taking use for money, being a mean to preserve that equality 
which was among them, and to keep any of them from becom- 
ing excessively rich, or others from becoming miserably poor, 
this is by no means to be applied to other constitutions, where 
men are left to their industry, and neither have their inherit^ 
ance by a grant from heaven, nor are put by any special 
appointment of God all upon a level. So that it is certain^ 
and can bear no debate, that the Mosaical dispensation, as to 
all the parts of it that are not of their own nature moral, is 
determined and abrogated by the gospel. The decisions which 
the apostles made in this matter are so clear, and for the proof 
of them, the whole tenor of the Epistles to the Galatians and 
the Hebrews is so full, that no doubt can rest concerning this 
with any man who reads them. 

K 



130 



AN EXPOSITION OW^ 



A R T. The last branch of this Article that remains to be considered, 
is concerning the moral law, by which the Ten Command*- 
ments are meant, together with all such precepts as do belong 
to them, or are corollaries arising out of them. By moral law 
is to be understood, in opposition to positive, a law which has 
an antecedent foundation in the nature of things, that arises 
from eternal reason, is suitable to the frame and powers of 
our souls, and is necessary for maintaining human society. All 
such laws are commanded, because they are in themselves 
good, and suitable to the state in which God has put us here.^ 
The two sources, out of which all the notions of morality floW>'' 
are, first, the consideration of ourselves as we are single indi- 
viduals, and that with relation both to soul and body ; and 
next, the consideration of human society, what is necessary' 
for the peace and order, the safety and happiness, of mankindl' 
There are two orders of moral precepts ; some relate to things^ 
that of their own nature are inflexibly good or evil, such a& i 
truth and falsehood; whereas other things by a variety of cir^ > 
cumstances may so change their nature, that they may be 
either morally good or evil : a merciful or generous temper is 
always a good moral quality, and yet it may run to excesses :' 
there may be many things that are not unalterably moral in 
themselves, which yet may be fit subjects of perpetual laws^ ' 
about them. For instance ; in the degrees of kindred with' 
relation to marriage, there are no degrees but direct ascendants 
or descendants, that is, parents and children, that by an 
eternal reason can never marry ; for where there is a natural 
subordination, there can never be such an equality as that 
state of fife requires : but collateral degrees, even the nearest, 
brothers and sisters, are not by any natural law barred mar- 
riage, and therefore in a case of necessity they might marry : ^ 
yet since their intermarrying must be attended with vast in*- 
conveniences, and would tend to the defilement of all families, 
and hinder the conjunction of mankind by the intermixture 
of different families; it becomes therefore a fit subject for a 
perpetual law, to strike a horror at the thought of such com- 
mixtures, and so to keep the world pure ; which, considering 
the freedoms in which those of the same family do live, could 
not be preserved without such a law. It is also the interest' 
of mankind, and necessary for the careful education of the 
rising generation, that marriages should be for life ; for if it 
were free for married persons to separate at pleasure, the issue 
of marriages so broken would be certainly much neglected : 
and since a power to break a marriage would naturally inflame 
such little quarrellings as may happen among all persons that 
live together, which will on the contrary be certainly repressed, 
when they know that the marriage cannot be dissolved, and 
when, by such a dissolution of marriages, the one half of the 
human species, I mean womankind, is exposed to great mise^ 
ries, and subject to much tyranny, it is a fit subject for a per- 



THE XXXIX ARTICLES. 



131 



petual law ; so that it is moral in a secondary order. It were 

easy to give instances of this in many more particulars/ and 

to shew, that a precept may be said to be moral, when there 
is a natural suitableness in it to advance that which is moral 
in the first order, and that it cannot be well preserved without 
such a support. It will appear what occasion there is for this 
distinction, when we consider the Ten Commandments ? tvhich 
are so many heads of morality, that are instanced in the high- 
est act of a kind ; and to which are to be reduced all such acts 
as by the just proportions of morality belong to that order and 
series of actions. 

- The foundation of morahty is rehgioii. The sense of God, 
that he is, and that he is both a rewarder and a punisher, is 
the foundation of religion. Now this must be supposed as 
antecedent to his laws, for we regard and obey them from the 
persuasion that is formed in us concerning the being and the 
justice of God : the two first commandments are against the 
two different sorts of idolatry ; which are, the worshipping of 
false gods, or the worshipping the true God in a corporeal 
figure : the one is the giving the honour of the true God to 
an idol, and the other is the depressing the true God to the 
resemblance of an idol. These vvere the two great branches 
of idolatry, by which the true ideas of God were corrupted. 
Religion was by them corrupted in its source. Nobody can 
question but that it is immoral to worship a false god : it is 
a transferring the honour, which belongs immediately and 
singly to the great God, to a creature, or to some imaginary 
thing which never had a real existence. This is the robbing 
God of what is due to him, and the exalting another thing to 
a degree and rank that cannot belong to it. Nor is it less 
immoral to propose the great and true God to be worshipped 
under appearances that are derogatory to his nature, that 
tend to give us low thoughts of him, and that make us think 
him like, if not below, ourselves. This way of worshipping 
him is both unsuitable to his nature, and unbecoming ours ; 
while we pay our adorations to that which is the work of an 
artificer. This is confirmed by those many express prohi- 
bitions in scripture, to which reasons are added, which shew 
that the thing is immoral in its own nature : it being often 
repeated, that no similitude of God was ever seen: and 'to 
M^hom will ye liken me ?' All things in heaven and earth are 
often called the ' work of his hands which are plain indica- 
tions of a moral precept, when arguments are framed from 
the nature of things to enforce obedience to it. The reason 
given in the very command itself, is taken from the nature 
of God, who is jealous ; that is, so tender of his glory, that 
he wiU not suffer a diminution of it to go unpunished ; and 
if this precept is clearly founded upon natural justice, and 
the proportion that ought to be kept between all human 
acts and their objects, then it must be perpetual ; and that 

K 2 



"ih. "^ ^N EXPOSITION OF 

A R T. the rather, because we do plainly see that the gospel is ^T^fir^ 
^'11- ing upon the law of Moses, and does exalt it to a higher pitch 
of sublimity and purity ; and by consequence the ideas of God, 
which are the first seeds and principles of religion, are to be 
kept yet more pure and undefiled in it, than they were in^a. 
lower dispensation. ' ^ 

The third precept is against false swearing : for the word 
Ex. iii. ] . vain is often used in the scripture in that sense : and since in 
Lev. XIX. other commandments, the sin which is named is not 

Mattitif. 01^^ of the lowest, but of the chief sins that relate to that head ; 
33. there is no reason therefore to think, that vain or idle swear- 
ing, which is a sin of a lower order, should be here meant, and 
not rather false swearing, which is the highest sin of the kind. 
The morality of this command is very apparent; for since 
God is the God of truth, and every oath is an appeal to him, 
therefore it must be a gross wickedness to appeal to God, or 
to call him to vouch for our lies. 

The fourth commandment cannot be called moral ill the 
first and highest sense ; for from the nature of things no 
reason can be assigned, why the seventh day, rather than 
the sixth, or the eighth, or any other day, should be sepa- 
rated from the common business of life, and applied to the 
service of God. But it is moral that a man should pay ho- 
mage to his Maker, and acknowledge him in all his works 
and ways : and since our senses and sensible objects are apt 
to wear better things out of our thoughts, it is necessary that 
. , some solemn times should be set apart for fuU and copious 

meditations on these subjects ; this shoidd be universal, lest, 
if the time were not the same every where, the business of 
some men might interfere with the devotions of others. It 
ought to have such an eminent character on it, like a cessation 
from business : which may both awaken a curiosity to inquire 
into the reason of that stop, and also may give opportunity for 
meditations and discourses on those subjects. It is also clear, 
that such days of rest must not return so oft, that the neces- 
sary affairs of life should be stopped by them, nor so seldom, 
that the impressions of rehgion should wear out, if they were 
too seldom awakened : but what is the proper proportion of 
time, that can best agree both with men^s bodies and minds, is 
only known to the great Author of nature. Howsoever, from 
what has been said, it appears that this is a very fit matter to 
be fixed by some sacred and perpetual law, and that from the 
first creation ; because there being then no other method for 
conveying down knowledge, besides oral tradition, it seems as 
highly congruous to that state of mankind, as it is agreeable to 
the words in Genesis, to believe that God should then have 
appointed one day in seven for commemorating the crea- 
tion, and for acknowledging the great Creator of all things. 
But though it seems very clear, that here a perpetual law was 
given the world for the separating the seventh day; yet it was 



THE XXXIX ARTICLES. 



133 



a mere circumstance, and does not at all belong to the stand- A R T. 
ing use of the law, in what end of the week this day was to. be ^' ^ ' • 
reckoned, whether the first or the last: so that even a less . 
authority than the apostles, and a less occasion than the resur- 
rection of Christ, might have served to have transferred the 
day. There being in this no breach made on the good and 
moral design of this law, which is all in it that we ought to 
reckon sacred and unalterable : the degree of the rest might be 
also more severely urged under the Mosaical law, than either 
before it or after it. Our Saviour having given plain intimations 
of an abatement of that rigour, by this general rule, that ^the Maikii.27. 
sabbath was made for man, and not man for the sabbath.^ We, 
who are called to a state of freedom, are not under such a 
^^rictness as the Jews were. Still the law stands for sepa- 
rating a seventh day from the common business of life, and 
appl)dng it to a rehgious rest, for acknowledging at first the 
Creator, and now, by a higher relation, the Redeemer^ of the 
world. ~ ' 

These four commandments make the first table, and were 
generally reckoned as four distinct commandments, till the 
Roman church having a mind to make the second disappear, 
threw it in as an appendix to the first, and then left it quite 
out in her catechisms : though it is plain that these command- 
ments relate to two very different matters, the one being in no 
;^^ort included in the other. Certainly they are much more dif- 
ferent than the coveting the neighbour's wife is from the covet- 
ing any of his other concerns ; which are plainly two difFerent 
^cts of the same species ; and the hotise being set before the Kx. xx. 17. 
'k^fe in Exodus (though it comes after it in Deuteronomy, ^^^^ •'• 
.which, being a repetition, is to be governed by Exodus, and 
;iiot Exodus by it) stands for the w'hole substance, which is 
^terwards branched out in the particulars ; and so it is^ clear 
,Jpiat there is no colour for dividing this in two ; but the first 
two commandments relating to things of such a difFerent sort^ as 
is the worshipping of more gods than one, and the worshipping 
the true God in an image, ought still to be reckoned as differ- 
ent : and though the reason given from the jealousy and justice 
of God may relate equally to both, yet that does not make them 
.othenvise one, than as both might be reduced to one common 
^ead of idolatry, so that both were to be equally punislied. 

In the second table this order is to be observed. There are 
^ur branches of a man's property, to which every, thing that 
-fc can call his own may be reduced: his person,^ his wife and 
children, his goods, and his reputation : so there is a negative 
precept given to secure him in every one of these, against kill- 
ing, committing adultery, stealing, and bearing false witness : 
to which, as the chief acts of their kind, are to be reduced all 
those acts that may belong to those heads : such as injuries to 
ji man in his person, though not carried on nor designed to 
sJSidll him ; every temptation to uncleannesSj and all those ex- 



134 



AIN EXPOSITION OF 



ART. cesses that lead to it; every act of injustice^ and every lie or 
Y^^- defamation. To these four are added two fences ; the one ex- 
terior, the other interior. The exterior is the setthng the 
obedience and order that ought to be observed in famihes, 
according to the law oi nature : and^ by a parity of reason^ if 
families are under a constitution^ where the government is 
made as a common parent_, the establishing the obedience to 
the civil powers^ or to such orders of men who may be made 
as parents^ with relation to matters of religion : this is the 
foundation of peace and justice^ of the security and happiness 
of mankind. And therefore it was very proper to begin the 
second table^ and those laws that relate to human society^ with 
this ; without which the world would be like a forest, and man- 
kind, like so many savages, running wildly through it. 

The last commandment is an inward fence to the law : it 
checks desires, and restrains the thoughts. If free scope should 
be given to these, as they would very often carry men to un- 
lawful actions, for a man is very apt to do that which he de- 
sires, so they must give great disturbance to those that are 
haunted or overcome by them. And therefore as a mean both 
to secure the quiet of men's minds, and to preserve the world 
from the ill effects which such desires might naturally have, 
this special law is given ; ^ Thou shalt not covet.' It will not 
be easy to prove it moral in the strictest sense, yet in a secon- 
dary order it may be well called moral : the matter of it being 
such both with relation to ourselves and others, that it is a 
very proper subject for a perpetual law to be made about it. 

Roir. vii. And yet, as St. Paul says, he had not known it to be a sin, if 
it had not been for the law that forbids it ; for, after all that 
can be said, it will not be easy to prove it to be of its own 
nature moral. Thus, by the help of that distinction of what 
is moral in a primary and in a secondary order, the morahty of 
the Ten Commandments is demonstrated. 

That this law obliges Christians as well as Jews, is evident 
from the whole scope of the New Testament. Instead of dero- 
gating from the obligation of any part of that law, our Saviour 

Matt.r. after he had affirmed, that ^he came not to dissolve the law, 
* • but to fulfil it/ and ^that heaven and earth might pass away, 
but that one tittle of the law should not pass away ;' he 
went through a great many of those laws, and shewed how 
far he extended the commentary he put upon them, and the 
obligations that he laid upon his disciples, beyond what was 
done by the J ewish rabbies : all the rest of his gospel, and the 
writings of his apostles, agree with this, in which there is not 
a tittle that looks like a slackening of it, but a great deal to the 
contrary : a strictness that reaches to idle words, to passionate 
thoughts, and to all impure desires, being enjoined as indispensa- 
bly necessary ; for ' without holiness no man can see the Lord.' 

And thus every thing relating to this Article is considered^ 
and I hope both explained and proved. 




Us 



ART. 
VIII. 



ARTICLE VIII. 



Of the Three Creeds. 



I^t CJm €xtttt^f Nice Cvtta, Athanasius CicetJ, anU tijat to|)id[) 

is; fommonli) calletJ tlje Apostles' Creetr, xjug]^t tf)rouj^Tp to ht 

rmi^ttf anti htlithtti; for ti)tv map be pro&etr bj) mosit ctrtatn 
^arrantii of flolp Scripture. 

Although no doubt seems to be here made of the names or 
designations given to those creeds, except of that which is 
ascribed to the apostles, yet none of them are named with 
any exactness : since the article of the procession of the Holy 
Ghost, and all that follows it, is not in the Nicene creed, but In Ancho- 
was used in the church as a part of it; for so it is in Epipha- 
nius, before the second general council at Constantinople; 
and it was confirmed and estabhshed in that council : only 
the article of the Holy Ghost's proceeding from the Son, was 
afterwards added first in Spain, anno 447, which spread itseK 
over all the west: so that the creed here called the Nice 
creed is indeed the Constantinopolitan creed, together with 
the addition of filioque made by the western church. That 
which is called Athanasius^s creed is not his neither ; for as 
it is not among his works, so that great article of the Chris- 
tian rehgion having been settled at Nice, and he and all 
the rest of the orthodox referring themselves always to 
the creed made by that council, there is no reason to ima- 
gine that he would have made a creed of his own ; be- 
sides, that not only the Macedonian,* but both the Nesto- 

* The Macedonian heresy, so called from Macedonius, its founder. Upon the 
death of Eusebius, bishop of Constantinople, Paulus, who had been before dis» 
placed by the Emperor, was again chosen to that see. The Arians at the same 
time chose Macedonius. When the Emperor Constantius became acquainted with 
this matter, he sent instructions to the president, to remove Paulus, and to esta- 
blish Macedonius in that see. The installation of Macedonius was accompanied 
with an awful event — the slaughter of (according to Socrates) about 3150 persons. 
Such, says that historian, were the means that Macedonius and the Arians used to 
climb by slaughter and murder to be magistrates in the church. Afterwards, 
Macedonius gave place to Paulus, who, however, was not long after banished 
through the influence of the Arians, and in his exile murdered. Macedonius again 
took possession of the see of Constantinople, and grievously persecuted the ortho- 
dox, who adhered to the article of ' one substance,' or the essential deity of Christ; 
not only cutting them off from the churches, but banishing them from the city. 
He continued for a time to make war with and wear out those who held the truth 
as in Jesus, but was at length deposed. He was first an Arian, and then fell into 
another heresy. His opinion was, that although the Son of God was like unto 
the Father, as well in substance as in all other things, yet the Holy Ghost had 
not these titles of honour, but * was only the servant or drudge of the Father and 
the Son.' His followers were called Macedonians, or Pneumatomachians. His 
heresy was condemned at the second general council at Constantinople, A.D. 381, 
at which 150 bishops were present, and ' the finishing touch' was there given to 
the decrees of Nice respecting the three pcisons in the Godhead. — [Ed.1 



136 



AN EXPOSITION OF 



A R;r. rian* and the Eutychiant heresies are expressly condemned 
by this creed ; and yet those authorities never being urged in. 
those disputes^ it is clear from thence, that no such creed was 
then known in the world ; as indeed it was never heard of 
before the eighth century ; and then it was given out as the 
creed of Athanasius^ or as a representation of his doctrine^ 
and so it grew to be received by the western church ; perhaps 
the more early^ because it went under so great a name^ in. 
ages that were not critical enough to judge of what was 
genuine and what was spurious. 

There is one great difficulty that arises out of several ex- 
pressions in this creed^ in which it is said^ that whosoever loitl 
he saved, must believe it; that the behef of it is necessa?'^ to 
salvation; and that such as do not hold it pure and undefile^ 
shall without doubt perish everlastingly : where many expla- 
nations of a mystery hard to be understood are made indis- 
pensably necessary to salvation ; and it is affirmed^ that all 
such as do not so believe must perish everlastingly. To this 
two answers are made: 1. That it is only the Christian faith 
in general that is hereby meant^ and not every period and 
article of this creed; so that all those severe expressions 
are thought to import only the necessity of believing the 
Christian religion : but this seems forced ; for the words that 
follow^ and the catholic faith is, do so plainly determine the 
signification of that word to the explanation that comes after, 
that the word catholic faith, in the first verse, can be no other 
than the same word, as it is defined in the third and following 
verses ; so that this answer seems not natural. 2. The com^ 
mon answer in which the most eminent men of this church, 
as far as the memory of all such as I have known could go 
up, have agreed, is this, that these condemnatory expressions 
are only to be understood to relate to those who, having the 
means of instruction offered to them, have rejected them, 

* For an account of Nestorius, see page 63. 

f The Eutychian heresy, so called from Eutyches, its founder. Eutyches was 
abbot of a convent of monks at Constantinople. His opposition to the doctrines 
of Nestorius (see pp. 63, 64) led him into an error of the opposite extreme, equally 
prejudicial to the interests of the Christian church. The 'poisonous heresy' of 
Eutyches caused a provincial council to be summoned, which was accordingly held 
at Constantinople. At that council Eutyches thus delivered his doctrine : ' I con- 
fess that our Lord consisted of two natures before the divinity was coupled with 
the humanity, but after the uniting of them I affirm that he had but one nature. ' 
He said, moreover, ' that the body of the Lord was not of the same substance with 
ours,' Wherefore he was degraded. Upon his application to the Emperor Theo- 
dosius, another council was called, which met at Ephesus. At this council Flavia- 
nius, bishop of Constantinople, who procured the condemnation of Eutyches, was, 
owing to the influence of Dioscorus, bishop of Alexandria, who was the declared 
enemy of the Bishop of Constantinople, condemned to be publicly scourged, and 
afterwards banished. He died of his wounds in Epipas, a city of Lydia, the place 
of his banishment. This council was called conventus latronum. Another, known 
as the fourth general council, was however summoned, and held at Chalcedon in 
the year 451, where Eutyches, who had been already sent into banishment, was 
condemned, and the following decreed — ' That in Christ two distinct natures were 
united in one person, and that without any change, mixture, or confusion.' Eva- 
gi'ius Scholaaticus and 3Iosheim [Ec] 



THE XXXIX ARTICLES. 



137 



and have stilled their own convictions^ holding the truth in A RT. 
unrighteousness^ and choosing darkness rather than light : 
upon such as do thus reject this great article of the Christian 
doctrine^ concerning one God and three Persons, Father, Son, 
and Holy Ghost, and that other concerning the incarnation 
of Christ, by which God and man were so united as to make 
one person, together with the other doctrines that follow 
these, are those anathemas denounced: not so as if it were 
hereby meant, that every man Avho does not believe this in 
every tittle must certainly perish, unless he has been furnished 
with sufficient means of conviction, and that he has rejected 
them, and hardened himself against them. The wrath of 
God 'is revealed against all sin,' and 'the wages of sin is 
death so that every sinner has the wrath of God abiding on 
him, and is in a state of damnation : yet a sincere repentance 
delivers him out of it, even though he lives and dies in some 
sins of ignorance ; which though they may make him liable to 
damnation, so that nothing but true repentance can deliver 
him from it ; yet a general repentance, when it is also special 
for all knomi sins, does certainly deliver a man from the 
guilt of unknown sins, and from the wrath of God due to 
them. God only knows our hearts, the degrees of our know- 
ledge, and the measure of our obstinacy, and how far our 
ignorance is affected or invincible ; and therefore he will deal 
with every man according to what he has received. So that 
we may beheve that some doctrines are necessary to salvation, 
as well as that there are some commandments necessary for 
practice; and we may also beheve that some errors as well as 
some sins are exclusive of salvation ; all which imports no 
more than that we believe such things are sufficiently re- 
vealed, and that they are necessary conditions of salvation ; 
but by this we do not limit the mercies of God towards those 
who are under such darkness as not to be able to see through 
it, and to discern and acknowledge these truths. It were in- 
deed to be wished, that some express declaration to this 
purpose were made by those who have authority to do it: 
but in the mean while, this being the sense in which the 
words of this creed are universally taken, and it agreeing mth 
the phraseology of the scripture upon the like occasions, this 
is that which may be rested upon. And allowing this large 
explanation of these severe words, the rest of this creed im- 
ports no more than the behef of the doctrine of the Trinity, 
which has been already proved, in treating of the former 
Articles. 

As for the creed called the Apostles' creed, there is good 
reason for speaking so doubtfully of it as the Article does, 
since it does not appear that any determinate creed was made 
by them : none of the first writers agree in delivering their 
faith in a certain form of words ; every one of them gives an 
abstract of his faith, in words that differ both from one 



1§8 



^AN EXPOSITION OF 



ART. another, and from this form. From thence it is clear that 
there was no common form dehvered to all the churches; 
and if there had been any tradition, after the times of the 
council of Nice, of such a creed composed by the apostles, 
the Arians had certainly put the chief strength of their cause 
on this, that they adhered to the Apostles' creed, in oppo- 
sition to the innovations of the Nicene fathers; there is 
therefore no reason to believe that this creed was prepared 
by the apostles, or that it was of any great antiquity, since 
Ruffin* was the first that pubhshed it: it is true, he pub- 
lished it as the creed of the church of Aquileia ; but that was 
so late, that neither this nor the other creeds have any au- 
thority upon their own account. Great respect is indeed 
due to things of such antiquity, and that have been so long 
in the church ; but, after all, we receive those creeds, not for 
their own sakes, nor for the sake of those who prepared 
them, but for the sake of the doctrine that is contained in 
them ; because we beheve that the doctrine which they de- 
clare is contained in the scriptures, and chiefly that which is 
the main intent of them, which is to assert and profess the 
Trinity, therefore we do receive them; though we must 
acknowledge that the creed ascribed to Athanasius, as it was 
none of his, so it was never established by any general 
council. 

J.B n0lS '« For an accoun'; of Rufl&u, see page 69. 



wsn A 



THE XXXIX ARTICLES. 



139 



ARTICLE IX. 

Of the Original or Birth-Sin. 

<?^rigtnal ^in miinttl) not in t\)t follolutns of Adam (as! tf^t * Pe- 
gjagians Uo baiuli) talfe), but tt tje fault or (orruption of tje 
:_fJiTatuie of tbtvyi man, t]^at naturalln is tng^tntitvtO of t\)t (J^ff* 
igpjEfpn'ng of Adam, loijmbn man is htv^ far gone from ©rigmal 
^jMi^i)ttouSmSSf anb is of oiun nature induutl to eijtl, ;go tjiat 
b't^z jri(Si) IvLSttt^ alimvS contrary to tf^t spirit, antJ ti^mfore m 
•^nfberp i^tr^on born into t^e «orltr it tleiSerbeti^ (&q1s*s «ratf) 
TanTi i^amnation : ^n^^ t^)t^ Wertion of Mature tlot^ rematn, pea 
i^ln tijem t!;at are regenerated^, loljereby ti^e Huslt of t))t ^fltS"^, 
"(alletJ in Greek (ppovrma crapKOQf ixs>i)ic^ Samt t^o eypountJ t^e 
" 'OTi^tJom, siome ^ensJualiti), s'ome t^e Affection, s'ome tijt ^tsia 
of t!je dfleiSl^, i^ «ot Subject to ti)t ilalu of #otr. ^ntJ t^^oug]^ 
.^t!)ere ts' no Contlemnatton for tjem tl^at beliebe anl3 are bapti^etf, 
g^et ti)t ^poiitle tiotf) confe^g^, CJat Concupislcence antr %ust 
l^atf) of itMf tiie nature of ^m. .^^ ^ 3^^^ 

After the first principles of the Christian religion are stated^ 
and the rule of faith and life was settled^ the next thing that 
was to be done^ was to declare the special doctrines of this 
rehgion ; and that first with relation to all Christians, as they 

* ' A new controversy arose in the church during the fifth century, and its pesti- 
lential effects extended themselves through the following ages. The authors of it 
were Pelagius and Caelestius, both monks ; the former a Briton, the latter a native 
of Ireland : they lived at Rome in the greatest reputation, and were universally 
esteemed on account of their extraordinary piety and virtue. These monks looked 
upon the doctrines which were commonly received, * concerning the original corrup- 
tion of human nature, and the necessity of divine grace to enlighten the under- 
standing, and purify the heart, as prejudicial to the progress of holiness and virtue, 
and tending to lull mankind in a presumptuous and fatal security. They maintained 
that these doctrines were as false as they were pernicious ; that the sins of our first 
parents were imputed to them alone, and not to their posterity ; that we derive no 
corruption from their fall, but are born as pure and unspotted as Adam came out 
of the forming hand of his Creator : that mankind, therefore, are capable of re- 
pentance and amendment, and of arriving to the highest degrees of piety and vir- 
tue by the use of their natural faculties and powers ; that, indeed, external grace 
is necessary to excite their endeavours, but that they have no need of the internal 
succoui-s of the Divine Spirit.' These notions, and some others intimately con- 
nected with them, were propagated at Rome, though in a private manner, by the 
two monks already mentioned, who, retiring from that city, A. D. 410, upon the 
approach of the Goths, went first into Sicily, and afterwards into Africa, where 
they published their doctrine with more freedom. From Africa, Pelagius passed 
into Palestine, while Caelestius remained at Carthage, with a view to preferment, 
desiring to be admitted among the presbyters of that city. But the discovery of his 
opinions having blasted his hopes, and his errors being condemned in a council held 
at Carthage, A.D. 412, he departed from that city, and went into the east.' Mosheim. 
la the east Pelagius met a friend and supporter in John, bishop of Jerusalem, 
whose attachment to the sentiments of Origen led him to favour those of Pelagius. 



140 



AN EXPOSITION OF 



ART. are single individuals^ for the directing every one of them in 
order to the working out his own salvation ; which is done 
from this to the nineteenth Article : and then with relation to 
them as they compose a society called the church; which is 
carried on from the nineteenth to the end. 

In all that has been hitherto explained^ the whole church 
of England has been all along of one mind. In this and in 
some that follow there has been a greater diversity of opinion ; 
but both sides have studied to prove their tenets to be at least 
not contrary to the Articles of the Church. These different 
parties have disputed concerning the decrees of God^ and 
those assistances which^ pursuant to his decrees_, are afforded 
to us. But because the foundation of those decrees^ and the 
necessity of those assistances^ are laid in the sin of Adam, 
and in the effects it had on mankind^ therefore these contro- 
versies begin on this head. The Pelagians and the Socinians 
agree in saying, that Adam's sin was personal : that by it^ as 

Rom. V. 12. being the first sin, it is said that sin entered into the world : 
but that as Adam was made mortal, and had died whether he 
had sinned or not ; so they think the liberty of human nature 
is still entire ; and that every man is punished for his own sins, 
and not for the sin of another ; to do otherwise, they say, 
seems contrary to justice, not to say, goodness. - ynfira 

Ver. 15. In opposition to this, judgment is said to have come upon 
many to condemnation through o?2e (either man or sin). Death 
is said to have reigned by 07ie, and by one man's offence ; and 
many are said to be dead through the offence of one. All these 
passages do intimate that death is the consequence of Adam's 
sin; and that in him, as well as in all others, death was the 
wages of sin, so also that we die upon the account of his sin. 

^ _ . _ ______ 

Under the patronage of John, Pelagius assumed more boldness in the propagation 
of his heresy. Augustin sent into Palestine a Spanish presbyter named Orosiuts, 
who accused Pelagius before a council of bishops at Jerusalem. He was, however, 
dismissed without the least censure ; and was shortly afterwards acquitted of all 
errors by the council of Diospolis (a city of Palestine known in scripture as L)fdda), 
at which Eulogius of Csesarea, metropolitan of Palestine, presided. The African 
bishops, nothing dismayed by the apostacy of the eastern church, assembled at 
Carthage, A. D. 416, while the Numidian bishops met at Milevmn, and condemned 
anew the antiscriptural doctrines of Pelagius and his companion. Upon this Pela- 
gius and Gselestius appealed to Zosimus, bishop of Rome, whom, by a confession 
of faith drawn up in a sufficiently artful manner to impose on t\iQ infallibility i 
of the papal see, they induced to pronounce in their favour, and declare- them 
sound in the faith and unjustly persecuted by their adversaries.^ The African 
bishops, however, with Augustin at their head, continued their war against this 
heresy, until at last Zosimus changed his mind, and condemned Pelagius and 
Cailestius, the very persons whom a little before he had pronounced orthodox, 
and to whom he had extended his protecting influence. Sometime afterwards this 
heresy was condemned by the third general council at Ephesus, and by the Gauls, 
Britons, and Africans, in their councils. Thus was this heresy crushed ; and to the, 
great Head of the church thanks are due, for having, at that time, raised up such 
a bold and uncompromising champion of the faith in Augustin, bishop of Hippo ; 
by whose unwearied exertions it was that this sect was suppressed in its very 
birth.^[ED.] 



THE XXXrX ARTICLES. 



141 



We are said to bear the image of the first Adam, as true ART. 

Christians bear the image of the second : now we are sure that 

there is both a derivation of righteousness^ and a communi- j cq^. xv, 
cation of inward hohness^ transferred to vis through Christ : so 49. 
it seems to follow from thence^ that there is somewhat both 
transferred to us^ and conveyed down through mankind^ by 
the first Adam ; and particularly that by it we are all made 
subject to death ; from which we should have been freed^ if 
Adam had continued in his first state^ and that by virtue of 
the tree of life : in which some think there was a natural vir- Gen.iii.22. 
tue to cure all diseases^ and relieve against all accidents^ while 
others do ascribe it to a divine blessings of which that tree was 
only the symbol or sacrament; though the words said after 
Adam^s sin^ as the reason of driving him out of paradise^ lest 
he put forth his hand^ and '^take of the tree of life, and eat, 
and five for ever,' seem to import that there was a physical 
virtue in the tree, that could so fortify and restore life, as to 
give immortality. These do also think that the threatening 
made to Adam, that upon his eating the forbidden fruit he 
should surely die, is to be taken literally, and is to be carried 
no further than to a natural death. This subjection to death, 
and to the fear of it, brings men under a slavish bondage, 
many terrors, and other passions and miseries that arise out 
of it, which they think is a great punishment ; and that it is 
a condemnation and sentence of death passed upon the whole 
race ; and by this they are made sinners, that is, treated a& 
guilty persons, and severely punished. *si\ 
^ This they think is easily enough reconciled with the notions 
of justice and goodness in God, since this is only a temporary 
punishment relating to men's persons : and we see in the com- 
mon methods of Providence, that children are in this sort 
often punished for the sins of their fathers ; most men that 
come under a very ill habit of body, transmit the seeds of dis^ 
eases and pains to their children. They do also think that 
the communication of this liableness to death is easily ac- 
counted for ; and they imagine, that as the tree of life might 
be a plant that furnished men with an universal medicine, so 
the forbidden fruit might derive a slow poison into Adam's 
body, that might have exalted and inflamed his blood very 
much, and might, though by a slower operation, certainly have 
brought on death at the last. Our being thus adjudged to 
death, and to all the miseries that accompany mortality, they 
think may be well called the wrath of God, and damnation: 
so temporary judgments are often expressed in scripture. 
And to this they add, that Christ has entirely redeemed us 
from this, by the promise he has given us of raising us up at 
the last day : and that therefore when St. Paul is so copiously 
discoursing of the resurrection, he brings this in, that as we 
have borne the ^ image of the first Adam, who was earthly/ 
so we shall also ^ bear the image of the heavenly :' and ^ since 



142 



AN EXPOSITION OF 



A R T. by man came deaths by man came also the resurrection from 
the dead;^ and that ^as in Adam all die^ so in Christ shall all 
I Cor. XV. be made alive f and that this is the universal redemption and 
21, 22. reparation that all mankind shall have in Christ Jesus. All 
Rom^' ^^^^^ these divines apprehend is conceivable^ and no more ; 
sim. therefore they put original sin in this only^ for which they 
pretend they have all the fathers with them before St. Austin, 
and particularly St, Chrysostom and Theodoret, from whom 
all the later Greeks have done little more than copied out their 
words. This they do also pretend comes up to the words of 
the Article; for as this general adjudging of all men to die 
may be called, according to the style of the scriptures, God's 
loratli and damnation ; so the fear of death, which arises out 
of it, corrupts men^s natures, and inclines them to evil. r/A : n9(| 
Others do so far approve of all this, as to think that it' is a 
part of original sin, yet they believe it goes much further : and 
that there is a corruption spread through the whole race of 
mankind, which is born with every man. This the experience 
of all ages teaches us but too evidently; every man feels it in 
himself, and sees it in others. The philosophers, who were 
sensible of it, thought to avoid the difficulty that arises from 
it, when it might be urged, that a good God could not make 
men to be originally depraved and wicked; they therefore 
fancied that all our souls pre-existed in a former and a purer 
state, from which they fell, by descending too much into cor- 
poreal pleasure, and so both by a lapse and for a punishment 
they smik into grosser bodies, and fell differently according to 
the different degrees of the sins they had committed in that 
state : and they thought that a virtuous life did raise them up 
to their former pitch, as a vicious one would sink them lower 
into more depraved and more miserable bodies. AU this may 
seem plausible : but the best that can be said for it is, that it 
is an hypothesis that saves some difficulties ; but there is no 
sort of proofs to make it appear to be true. We neither per- 
ceive in ourselves any remembrances of such a state, nor have 
we any warning given us either of our fall, or of the means of 
recovering out of it : so since there is no reason to affirm this 
to be true, we must seek for some other source of the corrup- 
tion of human nature. The Manichees imputed it to the evil 
god, and thought it was his work, which some say might have 
set on St. Austin the more earnestly to look for another h}^- 
pothesis to reconcile all. 

But before we go to that, it is certain, that in scripture this > 
Gen. vi. 5. general corruption of our nature is often mentioned. ^ The 
i"<:in^s imaginations of man's thoughts are only evil continually: 
viii. 46. What man is he that liveth and sinneth not ? The just man 
Prov.xxiv. falleth seven times a day: The heart of man is deceitful above 
Jer xvi;9 things, and desperately wicked; who can know it? All that 
2Cor.v.i7. are in Christ must become new creatures : old things must be 
Eccl. vii. done away, and every thing must become new. God made 



THE XXXIX ARTICLES. 



143 



man upright^ but he souglit out to himself many inventions. A R T; 
The ilesh is weak ; The flesh lusteth against the spirit ; The 
carnal mind is enmity to the law of God^ and is not subject to cai.v. 17. 
the laAV of God, neither indeed can be and ' they that are in Rom. viii. 
the flesh cannot please God :^ where by fiesh is to be meant 
the natural state of mankind^ according to those words^ ^That John hi. 6, 
wliich is born of the flesh is fleshy and that which is born of 
the Spirit is spirit.^ These^ with many other places of scrip- 
ture to the same purpose^ when they are joined to the univer- 
sal experience of all mankind concerning the corruption of our 
whole race^ lead us to settle this pointy that in fact it has over- 
run our whole kind^ the contagion is spread over all. Now 
this being settled^ we are next to inquire^ how this could hap- 
pen : we cannot think that God made men so : for it is ex- 
pressly said^ that ' God made man after his own image.^ 2"^- 

t>The surest way to find out what this image was at firsts is 
t(5 consider^ what the New Testament says of it^ when we come 
to be restored to it. ' We must put on the new man^ after the Eph.iv. 
image of him that created him or as elsewhere^ the ' new 
man in righteousness and true holiness.^ This then was the 
image of God, in which man was at first made. Nor ought 
the image of God to be considered only as an expression that 
imports only our representing him here on earth, and having 
dominion over the creatures : for in Genesis the creation of Gen. i. 27, 
man in the image of God is expressed as a thing different from 
his dominion over the creatures, which seems to be given to 
him as a consequent of it. The image of God seems to be 
this, that the soul of man was a being of another sort and order 
than all those material beings till then made, which were nei- 
ther capable of thought nor liberty, in which respect the soul 
was made after the image of God. But Adam^s soul being put 
in his body, his brain was a tabula rasa, as white paper, had 
no impressions in it, but such as either God put in it, or such 
as came to him by his senses. A man born deaf and blind, 
newly come to hear and see, is not a more ignorant and 
amazed-like creature than Adam must have been, if God had 
not conveyed some great impressions into him ; such as first 
the acknowledging and obeying him as his Maker, and then 
the managing his body so as to make it an instrument, by 
which he could make use of and observe the creation. There 
is no reason to think that his body was at first inclined to ap- 
petite, and that his mind was apt to serve liis body, but that 
both were restrained by supernatural assistances. It is much 
more natural and more agreeable to the words of the wise man, 
to think that God made man upright, that his body craved 
modestly, and that his mind was both judge and master of 
those cravings; and if a natural hypothesis may be offered 
but only as an hypothesis, it may be supposed, that a man's 
blood was naturally low and cool, but that it was capable of a 
vast inflammation and elevation, by which a man's powers 



144 



KN EXPOSITION OF 



ART. might be exalted to much higher degrees of knowledge and 
capacity : the animal spirits receiving their quality from that 
of the bloody a new and a strong fermentation in the blood 
might raise them^ and by consequence exalt a man to a much 
greater sublimity of thought : but with that it might dispose 
him to be easily inflamed by appetites and passions ; it might 
put him under the power of his body^ and make his body much 
more apt to be fired at outward objects^ which might sink all 
spiritual and pure ideas in him^ and raise gross ones with much 
fury and rapidity. Hereby his whole frame might be much 
corrupted^ and that might go so deep in him^ that all those who 
descended from him might be defiled by it, as we see madness 
and some chronical diseases pass from parents to their children. 

All this might have been natural, and as much the physical 
effect of eating the forbidden fruit, as it seems immortality 
would have been that of eating the fruit of the tree of life : 
this might have been in its nature a slow poison, which must 
end in death at last. It may be A^ery easy to make all this ap- 
pear probable from physical causes. A very small accident 
may so alter the whole mass of the blood, that in a veiy few 
minutes it may be totally changed : so the eating the forbidden 
fmit might have, by a natural change of things, produced aU 
this. But this is only an hypothesis, and so is left as such. 
All the assistance that revealed religion can receive from 
philosophy, is to shew, that a reasonable hypothesis can be 
offered upon physical principles, to shew the possibility, or 
rather probability, of any particulars that are contained in the 
scriptures. This is enough to stop the mouths of Deists, which 
is all the use that can be made of such schemes. 

To return to the main point of the fall of Adam : he him- 
self was made liable to death : but not barely to cease to live ; 
for death and life are terms opposite to one another in scrip- 
Rom, vi. ture. In treating upon these heads, it is said, that ' the wages 
2^- of sin is death, but the gift of God is eternal life.^ And 
though the addition of the word eternal makes the significa- 
tion of the one more express, yet where it is mentioned with- 
out that addition, no doubt is to be made, but that it is to be 
Rom. viii. so meant: as where it is said, that ^to be carnally minded is 
John XX death, but to be spiritually minded is life and peace :^ and 
31. ' believing, we have life through his name: Ye will not come 
J ohn V. 40. unto me, that ye may have life.^ So, by the rule of opposites, 
death ought to be understood as a word of a general significa- 
tion, which we, who have the comment of the New Testament 
to guide us in understanding the Old, are not to restrain to a 
natural death; and therefore when we are said to be '^the 
servants of sin unto death,^ we understand much more by it 
than a natural death : so God^s threatening Adam with death, 
ought not to be restrained to a natural death. Adam being 
thus defiled, all emanations from him must partake of that 
vitiated state to which he had brought himself. But then the 



THE XXXIX ARTICLES. 



145 



bi question remains^ how came the souls of his posterity to be ART, 
;r, defiled ; for if they were created pure^ it seems to be an unjust 
. cruelty to them, to condemn them to such an union to a de- 
filed body, as should certainly corrupt them ? All that can be 
said in answer to this is. 

That God has settled it as a law in the creation, that a soul 
J ; should inform a body according to the texture of it, and either 
" conquer it, or be mastered by it, as it should be differently 
made : and that as such a degree of purity in the texture of it 
might make it both pure and happy ; so a contrary degree of 
texture might have very contrary effects. And if, with this, 
God made another general law, that when all things were duly 
prepared for the propagation of the species of mankind, a soul 
should be always ready to go into and animate those first 
threads and beginnings of life ; those laws being laid down, 
Adam, by corrupting his own frame, corrupted the frame of his 
whole posterity, by the general course of things, and the great 
law of the creation. So that the suffering this to run through 
all the race, is no more (only different in degrees and extent) 
w^han the suffering the folly or madness of a man to infect his 
u^^osterity. In these things God acts as the Creator of the 
Ih world by general rules, and these must not be altered because 
doi the sins and disorders of men: but they are rather to have 
■ -their course, that so sin may be its own punishment. The 
defilement of the race being thus stated, a question remains, 
; whether this can be properly called a sin, and such as deserves 
tH^od's wrath and damnation? On the one hand an opposition 
of nature to the Divine nature must certainly be hateful to 
God, as it is the root of much malignity and sin. Such a 
nature cannot be the object of his love, and of itself it cannot 
be accepted of God : now since there is no mean in God, 
hQtw&en love and wrath, acceptation and damnation, if such 
V persons are not in the first order, they must be in the second. 
hii^ Yet it seems very hard, on the other hand, to apprehend, 
- iiliow persons who have never actually sinned, but are only 
♦itmhappily descended, should be, in consequence to that, under 
iiKiso great a miseryo To this several answers are made : some 
?if have thought that those who die before they commit any actual 
bi~sin, have indeed no share in the favour of God, but yet that 
O^Cithey pass unto a state in the other world, in which they suffer 
^adittle or nothing. The stating this more clearly, will belong to 

another opinion, which shall be afterwards explained, 
to- There is a further question made, whether this vicious incli- 
nation is a sin, or not? Those of the church of Rome, as 
they believe that original sin is quite taken away by baptism, 
so finding that this corrupt disposition still remains in us, they 
do from thence conclude, that it is no part of original sin ; but 
that this is the natural state in which Adam was made at first, 
v only it is in us without the restraint or bridle of supernatural 
m« assistances, which was given to him, but lost by sin, and re- 

L. 



146 



AN EXPOSITION OF ■ 



ART stored to us in baptism. But^ as was said formerly^ Adam in 
his first state Avas made after the image of God^ so that hiusi 
bodily powers were perfectly -under the command of his mind; 
this revolt^ that we feel onr bodies and senses are always in, 
cannot be supposed to be God^s original workmanship. There 
are great disputings raised concerning the meaning of a long 
discourse of St. PauPs in the seventh of the Romans concernr; 
ing a constant struggle that he felt within himseK; which 
somC;, arguing from the scope of the whole Epistle, and the 
beginning of that chapter, understand only of the state that 
St. Paul represents himself to have been in while yet a Jew, 
and before his conversion: whereas others understand it of 
him in his converted and regenerated state. Very plausible 
things have been said on both sides, but without arguing any 
thing from words, the sense of which is under debate, there 
are other places which do manifestly express the struggle that 
Matt. xxvi. is in a good man : ^ The flesh is weak, though the spirit is will- 
Gal V 17 * flesh lusteth against the spirit, as the spirit lusteth 
Rom. viii. against the flesh:' we ought to be still '^mortifying the deeds 
13. of the body f and we feel many sins ^ that do so easily beset 
us,^ that from these things we have reason to conclude, that 
there is a corruption in our nature, which gives us a bias and 
propensity to sin. Now there is no reason to think that bap- 
tism takes away all the branches and effects of original sin : it 
is enough if we are by it dehvered from the wrath of God, and 
brought into a state of favour and acceptation : we are freed 
from the curse of death, by our being entitled to a blessed re- 
surrection: and if we are so far freed from the corruption of 
our nature, as to have a foederal right to such assistances as 
will enable us to resist and repress it, though it is not quite 
extinct in us, so long as we live in these frail and mortal bodies, 
here are very great effects of our admission to Christianity by 
baptism; though this should not go so far as to root all incli- 
nations to evil out of our nature. The great disposition that 
is in us to appetite and passion, and that great heat with which 
they inflame us ; the aversion that we naturally have to aU the 
exercises of rehgion, and the pains that must be used to w^ork 
us up to a tolerable degree of knowledge, and an ordinary meal- 
sure of virtue, shews that these are not natural to us: whereas 
sloth and vice do grow on us without any care taken about 
them : so that it appears, that they are the natural, and the 
other the forced, growth of our souls. These ill dispositions 
are so universally spread through all mankind, and appear so 
early, and in so great a diversity of ill inclinations, that from 
hence it seems reasonable and just to infer, that this corrup^- 
tion is spread through our whole nature and species, by the 
sin and disobedience of Adam. And beyond this a great 
many among Ourselves think that they cannot go, in asserting 
of original sin. 

But there is a further step made by all the disciples of St, 



THE XXXIX ARTICLES. 



147 



Austin, who believe that a covenant was made with all man- A R T. 
kind in Adam, as their first parent : that he was a person 
constituted by God to represent them all; and that the 
covenant was made with him, so that if he had obeyed, all 
his posterity should have been happy, through his obedience ; 
but by his disobedience they were all to be esteemed to have 
sinned in him, his act being imputed and transferred to them 
all. St. Austin considered all mankind as lost in Adam, and 
in that he made the decree of election to begin : there being 
no other reprobation asserted by him, than the leaving men 
to continue in that state of damnation, in which they were by 
reason of Adam's sin; so that though by baptism all men 
were born again and recovered out of that lost state, yet un- 
less they were within the decree of election, they could not 
be saved, but would certainly fall from that state, and perish 
in a state of sin ; but such as were not baptized were shut 
out from all hope. Those word's of Christ's, ^ Except ye be John iii. 3, 
born again of water and of the Spirit, ye cannot enter into ^• 
the kingdom of God,^ being expounded so as to import the , , 
indispensable necessity of baptism to eternal salvation ; all 
who were not baptized were reckoned by him among the 
damned : yet this damnation, as to those who had no actual 
sin, was so mitigated, that it seemed to be little more than an 
exclusion out of heaven, without any suffering or misery, like 
a state of sleep and inactivity. This was afterwards dressed 
up as a division or partition in hell, called the Limbo of In- 
fants ; so by bringing it thus low, they took away much of 
the horror that this doctrine might otherwise have given th^ 
world. rbjj. 

It was not easy to explain the way how this was propa- 
gated : they wished well to the notion of a soul's propagating 
a soul, but that seemed to come too near creation : so it was 
not received as certain. It was therefore thought, that the 
body being propagated defiled, the soul was created and in- 
fused at the time of conception : and that though God did 
not create it impure, yet no time was interposed between its 
creation and infusion : so that it could never be said to have 
been once pure, and then to have become impure. All this, 
as it afforded an easy foundation to establish the doctrine of 
absolute decrees upon it, no care being taken to shew how 
this sin came into the world, whether from an absolute de- 
cree or not, so it seemed to have a great foundation in that 
large discourse of St. Paul's : where, in the fifth of the Ro- 
mans, he compares the blessings that we receive by the death 
of Christ, with the guilt and misery that was brought upon us 
by the sin of Adam. Now it is confessed, that by Christ we 
have both an imputation or communication of the merits of 
his death, and likewise a purity and hoHness of nature con- 
veyed to us by his doctrine and spirit. In opposition then to 
tMs, if the comparison is to be closely pursued, there must be 

L 2 



148 



AN EXPOSITION OF 



A R T. an imputation of sin^ as well as a corruption of nature^ trans- 
fused to us from Adamx. This is the more considerable as 
to the point of imputation^ because the chief design of St. 
PauFs discourse seems to be levelled at that, since it is be- 
gun upon the head of reconciliation and atonement: upon 
S*the^*n^' ^^^^^^ follows, that ^ as by one man sin entered into the 
° ^ ®" • world, and death by sin, and death passed upon aU men, for 
that (or, as others render it, in whom) all have sinned.' Now 
they think it is all one to their point, whether it be rendered 
/or that, or in whom : for though the latter words seem to 
deliver their opinion more precisely, yet it being affirmed, 
that, according to the other rendering, all who die have 
sinned ; and it being certain, that many infants die who have 
never actually sinned, these must have sinned in Adam, they 
could sin no other way. It is afterwards said by St. Paul, 
that ^ by the offence of one many were dead : that the judg- 
ment was by one to condemnation : that by one man's offence 
death reigned by one. That by the offence of one, judg- 
ment came upon all men to condemnation: and that by one 
man's disobedience many were made sinners.' As these 
words are positive, and of great importance in themselves, so 
all this is much the stronger, by the opposition in which 
every one of them is put to the effects and benefits of Christ's 
death ; particularly to our justification through him, in which 
there is an imputation of the merits and effects of his death, 
that are thereby transferred to us ; so that the whole effect of 
this, discourse is taken away, if the imputation of Adam's sin 
is denied. And this explication does certainly quadrate more 
entirely to the words of the Article, as it is known that this 
was the tenet of those who prepared the Articles, it having 
been the generally-received opinion from St. Austin's days 
downward. 

But to many other divines this seems a harsh and uncon- 
ceivable opinion ; it seems repugnant to the justice and good- 
ness of God, to reckon men guilty of a sin which they never 
committed, and to punish them in their souls eternally for that 
which is no act of theirs : and though we easily enough con- 
ceive how God, in the riches of his grace, may transfer merit 
and blessing from one person to many, this being only an 
economy of mercy, where all is free, and such a method is 
taken as may best declare the goodness of God : but in the 
imputation of sin and guilt, which are matters of strict justice, 
it is quite otherwise. Upon that head God is pleased often 
to appeal to men for the justice of all his ways : and therefore 
no such doctrine ought to be admitted, that carries in it an 
idea of cruelty, beyond what the blackest tyrants have ever 
Jer. xxxi. invented. Besides that in the scripture such a method as the 
29, 30. punishing children for their fathers' sins, is often disclaimed, 
20^^'^^"'' positively affirmed, that every man that sins is pu- 

nished Now though, in articles relating to the nature of God, 



THE XXXIX ARTICLES. 149 



they acknowledge it is highly reasonable to believe^ that there ART. 
may be mysteries which exceed our capacity ; yet in moral 
matters, in God's foederal deahngs with us, it seems unreason- 
able, and contrary to the nature of God, to beheve that there 
may be a mystery contrary- to the clearest notions of justice 
and goodness ; such as the condemning mankind for the sin 
of one man, in which the rest had no share ; and as contrary 
to our ideas of God, and upon that to set up another mystery 
that shall take away the truth and fideht}^ of the promises of 
God ; justice and goodness being as inseparable from his 
nature, as truth and fidelity can be supposed to be. This 
seems to expose the Christian religion to the scoffs of its ene- 
mies, and to objections that are much sooner made than an- 
swered : and since the foundation of tliis is a supposed cove- 
nant with Adam as the representative head of mankind, it is 
strange that a thing of that great consequence should not have 
been more plainly reported in the history of the creation ; but 
that men should be put to fetch out the knowledge of so great 
and so extraordinary a thing, only by some remote conse- 
quences. It is no small prejudice against this opinion, that it 
was so long before it first appeared in the Latin church ; that 
it was never received in the Greek ; and that even the western 
church, though perhaps for some ignorant ages it received it, 
as it did every thing else, xery imphcitly, yet has been very 
much di^dded both about this, and many other opinions re- 
lated to it, or arising out of it. 

As for those words of St. Paulas, that are its chief, if not 
its only foundation, they say many things upon them. 
First, it is a single proof. Now when we have not a variety 
of places proving any point, in which one gives light, and 
leads us to a sure exposition of another, we cannot be so sure 
of the meaning of any one place, as to raise a theory, or found 
a doctrine, upon it. They say further, that St. Paul seems to 
argue, from that opinion of om' ha\^g sinned in Adam, to 
prove that we are justified by Christ. Now it is a piece of 
natural logic not to prove a thing by another, unless that other 
is more clear of itself, or at least more clear by its being already 
received and believed. This cannot be said to be more clear 
of itself, for it is certainly less credible or conceivable, than 
the reconcihation by Christ. Nor was this clear from any 
special revelation made of it in the Old Testament : therefore 
there is good reason to beheve, that it was then a doctrine 
received among the Jews, as there are odd things of this 
kind to be found among the Cabbahsts, as if ah. the souls of 
all mankind had been in Adam's body. Now when an argu- 
ment is brought in scripture to prove another thing by, though 
we are bound to acknowledge the conclusion, yet we are not 
always sure of the premises ; for they are often founded upon 
received opinions. So that it is not certain that St. Paul 
meant to offer this doctrine to our belief as true, but only 



150 



AN EXPOSITION OT 



ART. that he intended by it to prove our being reconciled to God 
through the death of Christ; and the medium by which he 
proved it might be^ for aught that appears from the words them- 
selves^ only an opinion held true among those to whom he writes. 
For he only supposes it^ but says nothing to prove it : which it 
might be expected he would have done, if the Jews had made 
any doubt of it. But further they say, that when comparisons or 
oppositions, such as this, are made in scripture, we are not al- 
ways to carry them on to an exact equality : we are required not 
1 Pet. i,i5, only ^ to be holy as God is holy, but to be perfect as he is 
16. perfect:' where by the as is not to be meant a true equality, 
Matt.v.48. sQjj^Q gQj.^ q£ resemblance and conformity. Therefore 
those who believe that there is nothing imputed to Adam^s 
posterity on the account of his sin, but this temporary punish- 
ment of their being made liable to death, and to all those 
miseries that the fear of it, with our other concerns about it, 
bring us under, say that this is enough to justify the compa- 
rison that is there stated : and that those, who wiU carry it 
on to be an exact parallel, make a stretch beyond the phrase- 
ology of the scripture, and the use of parables, and of the 
many comparisons that go only to one or more points, but 
ought not to be stretched to every thing. 

These are the things that other great divines among us have 
opposed to this opinion. As to its consonancy to the Article, 
those who oppose it do not deny, but that it comes up fully 
to the highest sense that the words of the Article can im- 
port : nor do they doubt, but that those who prepared' the 
Articles, being of that opinion themselves, might perhaps have 
had that sense of the words in their thoughts. But they add, 
that we are only bound to sign the Articles in a literal and 
Ex. xxxii. grammatical sense : since therefore the words, God's wrath 
10. and damnation^ which are the highest in the Article, are capa- 

the^whole ^ lowcr scnsc, temporary judgments being often so ex- 

Old Testa- pressed in the scriptures, therefore they believe the loss of the 
MaT ■■■ 7 ^^^^^^ God, the sentence of death, the troubles of hfe, and 
1 Thess ii! corruption of our faculties, may be well called God's 
16. wrath and damnation. Besides, they observe, that the main 
Luke xxiii. point of the imputation of Adam's sin to his posterity, and its 

1 Cor. xi. being considered by God as their own act, not being expressly 
29. taught in the Article, here was that moderation observed, 
iPet.iv.i7. which the compilers of the Articles have shewed on many 
2. ' other occasions. It is plain from hence, that they did not 

2 Cor. vii. intend to lay a burden on men's consciences, or oblige them 
John v ii profess a doctrine that seems to be hard of digestion to a 
10, "l" great many. The last prejudice that they offer against that 
Eom.xiv. opinion is, that the softening the terms of God's wrath and 
2^- damnation, that was brought in by the followers of St. Austin's 

doctrine, to such a moderate and harmless notion, as to be 
only a loss of heaven, with a sort of unactive sleep, was an 
effect of their apprehending that the world could very iU bear 



THE XXXIX ARTICLES. 



151 



an opinion of so strange a sounds as that all mankind were to ART. 
be damned for the sin of one man : and that therefore, to make 
this pass the better, they mitigated damnation far below the 
representation that the scriptm*es generally give of it, which 
propose it as the being adjudged to a place of torment, and a 
state of horror and misery. 

Thus I have set down the different opinions in this point, 
\vith that true indifference that I intend to observe on such 
other occasions, and which becomes one who undertakes to 
explain the doctrines of the church, and not his own ; and ^ j r 
who is obUged to propose other men's opinions with all sin- 
cerity, and to shew what are the senses that the learned men, .^.nsiil 
of different persuasions in these matters, have put on the 
words of the Article. In which one great and constant rule 
to be observed is, to represent men's opinions candidly, and to 
judge as favourably both of them and their opinions as may be : 
to bear with one another, and not to disturb the peace and 
union of the church, by insisting too much and too perempto- 
rily upon matters of such doubtful disputation ; but wiUingly 
to leave them to aU that liberty, to which the church has left 
them, and which she still allows themjiiiii anoai f^iqnioo \an£a 

osfb^aiig ad o^ ioa id-gno 
sis §nom£ yariA 7i.u isfiao Sj^fiJ 8§md^ sdi 81b saadT 
Kedi oi jpriPAKr^inoo aii ocT «A - - ---rr . ^ . bdgoqqo 
iiif't qis 291X100 ii isdi iifd ^^aob w 3zodi 

' gbiow 9dt 'tisu.:i ^ ■ : : . ...ui odi od 

S"' - ^^odi ^&di iud ^idnoh vf--jf[t ob^iorr inoq 

^89Yl98m9fIj notaiqo iad ,^^h '&^A 

,8+r[-o.rrorf;r ihd.i nx ebiov? .rsg .tsii* b&d 

- 3 oi bnnod Tix.so sir aw isdi 

-udi aoxi£8 iseme :>-:vi-MO".. , -.v .^j 
■A Qiij flf lead-gid edi eis doldw ,.sk-: .of 

xii aioisiaxid .aainiqi ^iq ^^^.^j h\o 

- ■--'■^ tfltob lo Qomlma sr . iijoTfil: 

;o llsw ad vam .asiiluoijl iiro 1 - lOo Qxfct . 

pdd ,a9bf89a ■ 514m tov^s "''""'^ai 

^"^^^ 8^mj?bAio no . . axfi lo Jmoq -"i^^^ ^^"^ 

X/ ^oxi: .ioB nwo -lied) ^B BoO Yd bsisbknoo ^niad ,^5^^ 

>.;X9bora isdi bbw 8T9r' ni ^xlgirfij- 

fio b9W9xf3 9Ysxf gsIortxA 9d moo sdi xioldw 

-.:)^ 

,8 

iiiv ndol 
Ji ,0i"' 



152 



AN EXPOSITION OF 



A R T. 
X. 



ARTICLE X. 



Of Free-WiU. 

Ci^e Contfttton of iBm after t]^e fall of Adam H iSucl) ti^at cam 
not turn axiO prepare l^toelf olon natural jgtrengtl^ antf 

gooU toorfejS to faft]^ mti (ailing ttpon (&oti, Wherefore ioe f)H^t 
no poioer to iTo gootr loorfeiS pleajSant antr acceptable to <^otf, 
toitl)out tl^e 6race of (^oH b^ Ci^rii^t prebenttng u^, tl^at ioe ma^ 
]^abe a gootJ ^oill, anti bjorfemg hiit}) liol^en loe I)abe tl)at gootr 
ioill. 

We shall find the same moderation observed in this Article, 
that was taken notice of in the former ; where all disputes 
concerning the degree of that feebleness and corruption, under 
which we are fallen by the sin of Adam, are avoided, and only 
the necessity of a preventing and a co-operating grace is as- 
serted against the Semipelagians* and the Pelagians. But 
before we enter upon that, it is fitting first to state the true 
notion of free-will, in so far as it is necessary to all rational 

* ' A new and different modification was given to the doctrine of Augustin by the 
monk Cassian, who came from the east into France, and erected a monastery near 
Marseilles. Nor was he the only one who attempted to fix upon a certain tem- 
peratm-e between the errors of Pelagius and the opinions of the African oracle ; 
several persons embarked in this undertaking about the year 430, and hence arose 
a new sect, which were called by their adversaries, Semipelagians. 

' The opinions of this sect have been misrepresented, by its enemies, upon several 
occasions ; such is generally the fate of all parties in religious controversies. Their 
doctrine, as it has been generally explained by the learned, amounted to this : 
" That inward preventing grace was not necessary to form in the soul the first 
beginnings of true repentance and amendment ; that every one was capable of pro- 
ducing these by the mere power of their natural faculties, as also of exercising faith 
in Christ, and forming the purposes of a holy and sincere obedience," But they 
acknowledged, at the same time, " That none could persevere or advance in that 
holy and virtuous course which they had the power of beginning, without the per- 
petual support and the powerful assistance of the divine grace. ''f 

' The disciples of Augustin, in Gaul, attacked the Semipelagians, with the utmost 
vehemence, without being able to extirpate or overcome them. The doctrine of 
this sect was so suited to the capacities of the generality of men, so conformable to 
the way of thinking that prevailed among the monastic orders, so well received 
among the gravest and most learned Grecian doctors, that neither the zeal nor in- 
dustry of its adversaries could stop its rapid and extensive progress. Add to its other 
advantages, that neither Augustin, nor his followers, had ventured to condemn it in 
all its parts, nor to brand it as an impious and pernicious heresy.' Mosheim. — [Ed.] 



f ' The leading principles of the Semipelagians were the five following : — 
1. That God did not dispense his grace to one more than another, in conse- 
quence of predestination, i. e. an eternal and absolute decree ; but was willing to 
save all men, if they complied with the terms of his gospel. 2. That Christ died 
for all men. 3. That the grace purchased by Christ, and necessary to salvation, 
was offered to all men. 4. That man, before he received grace, was capable of 
faith and holy desires. 5. That man, born free, was consequently capable of re- 
sisting the influences of grace, or complying with its suggestions..' Maclaine. 



THE XXXIX ARTICLES. 



153 



agents to make their actions morally good or bad ; since it is A R T. 
a principle that seems to rise out of the light of nature^ that ^- 
no man is accoimtable^ rewardable^ or punishable, but for that 
in which he acts freely, without force or compulsion ; and so 
far all are agreed. 

Some imagine, that Hberty must suppose a freedom to do, 
or not to do, and to act contrarimse at pleasure. To others 
it seems not necessary that such a hberty should be carried to 
denominate actions morally good or bad : God certainly acts 
in the perfectest hberty, yet he cannot sin. Christ had the 
most exalted liberty in his human nature, of which a creature 
was capable, and his merit was the highest, yet he could not 
sin. Angels and glorified saints, though no more capable of 
rewards, are perfect moral agents, and yet they cannot sin : 
and the devils, with the damned, though not capable of further 
punishment, yet are still moral agents, and cannot but sin : so 
this indiifferency to do, or not to do, cannot be the true notion 
of hberty. A truer one seems to them to be this, that a 
rational nature is not determined as mere matter, by the im- 
pulse and motion of other bodies upon it, but is capable of 
thought, and, upon considering the objects set before it, makes 
reflection, and so chooses. Liberty therefore seems to consist 
in this inward capacity of thinking, and of acting and choos- 
ing upon thought. The clearer the thought is, and the more 
constantly that our choice is determined by it, the more does 
a man rise up to the highest acts, and sublimest exercises of 
libert)'^. 

A question arises out of this, whether the will is not always 
determined by the understanding, so that a man does always 
choose and determine himself upon the account of some idea 
or other ? If this is granted, then no hberty T\dll be left to 
our faculties. We must apprehend things as they are pro- 
posed to our understanding ; for if a thing appears true to us, 
we must assent to it ; and if the wiR is as bhnd to the under- 
standing, as the understanding is determined by the light in 
which the object appears to it, then we seem to be concluded 
under a fate, or necessity. It is, after all, a vain attempt to 
argue against every man^s experience : we perceive in ourselves 
a hberty of turning our minds to some ideas, or from others ; 
we can think longer or shorter of these, more exactly and 
steadily, or more slightly and superficiaUy, as we please ; and 
in this radical freedom of directing or diverting our thoughts, 
a main part of our freedom does consist : often objects as they 
appear to our thoughts do so affect or heat them, that they do 
seem to conquer us, and carry us after them ; some thoughts 
seeming as it were to intoxicate and charm us. Appetites and 
passions, when much fired by objects apt to work upon them, 
do agitate us strongly ; and, on the other hand, the impres- 
sions of rehgion come often into our minds with such a secret 
force, so much of terror and such secret joy mixing with them. 



154 



AN EXPOSITION OF 



tliat they seem to master us ; yet in all this a man acts freely^ 
because he thinks and chooses for himself; and though per- 
haps he does not feel himself so entirely balanced, that he is 
indifferent to both sides, yet he has still such a remote liberty, 
that he can turn himself to other objects and thoughts, so 
that he can divert, if not all of a sudden resist, the present 
impressions that seem to master him. We do also feel that 
in many trifles we do act with an entire liberty, and do many 
things upon no other account, and for no other reason, but 
because We will do them : and yet more important things 
depend on these. 

Our thoughts are much governed by those impressions that 
are made upon our brain : when an object proportioned to us 
appears to us with such advantages as to aiFect us much, it 
makes such an impression on our brain, that our animal 
spirits move much towards it; and those thoughts that 
answer it arise oft and strongly upon us, till either that im- 
pression is worn out and flatted, or new and livelier ones are 
made on us by other objects. In this depressed state in which 
we now are, the ideas of what is useful or pleasant to our 
bodies are strong ; they are ever fresh, being daily renewed ; 
and, according to the different construction of men^s blood 
and their brains, there arises a great variety of inclinations in 
them. Our animal spirits, that are the immediate organs of 
thought, being the subtiler parts of our blood, are differently 
made and shaped, as our blood happens to be acid, salt, sweet, 
or phlegmatic : and this gives such a bias to all our inclina- 
tions, that nothing can work us off from it, but some great 
strength of thought that bears it down : so learning, chiefly in 
mathematical sciences, can so swallow up and fix one^s thought, 
as to possess it entirely for some time ; but when that amuse- 
ment is over, nature wiU return and be where it was, being 
rather diverted than overcome by such speculations. 

The revelation of religion is the proposing and proving 
many truths of great importance to our understandings, by 
which they are enlightened, and our wills are guided; but 
these truths are feeble things, languid and unable to stem a 
tide of nature, especially when it is much excited and heated : 
so that in fact we feel, that, when nature is low, these thoughts 
may have some force to give an inward melancholy, and to 
awaken in us purposes and resolutions of another kind ; but 
when nature recovers itself, and takes fire again, these grow 
less powerful. The giving those truths of religion such a 
force that they may be able to subdue nature, and to govern 
us, is the design of both natural and revealed religion. So 
the question comes now according to the Article to be, whe- 
ther a man by the powers of nature and of reason, without 
other inward assistances, can so far turn and dispose his own 
mind, as to beheve and ^ to do works pleasant and acceptable 
to God.' Pelagius thought that man was so entire in his 



THE XXXIX ARTICLES. 



155 



liberty, that there was no need of any other grace but that of A RT. 
pardon, and of proposing the truths of religion to men^s ^- 
knowledge, but that the use of these was in every man^s 
power. Those who were called Semipelagians thought that 
an assisting inward grace was necessary to enable a man to 
go through all the harder steps of religion; but with that they 
thought that the first turn or conversion of the wiU to God, 
was the effect of a man^s own free choice. 

In opposition to both which, this Article asserts both an 
assisting and a preventing grace. That there are inward 
assistances given to our powers, besides those outward bless- 
ings of Providence, is first to be proved. In the Old Testa- 
ment, it is true, there were not express promises made by 
Moses of such assistances; yet it seems both David and 
Solomon had a full persuasion about it. David^s prayers do 
every where relate to somewhat that is internal : he prays 
God ^ to open and turn his eyes; to unite and incline hisP^'Cxix. 
heart ; to quicken him ; to make him to go ; to guide and 3^' ^"^^ 
lead him ; to create in him a clean heart, and renew a right Ps! li. 10, 
spirit within him.' Solomon says, that ^ God gives wisdom; n. 
that he directs men's paths, and giveth grace to the lowly.' 
In the promise that Jeremy gives of a new covenant, this is ' ' * 
the character that is given of it; ^I will put my law in their Jer.xxxi. 
inward parts, and write it in their hearts : They shall all 
know me, from the least of them unto the greatest.' Like to 
that is what Ezekiel promises ; ^ A new heart also wiU I give Ezek. 
you, and a new spirit wiU I put within you ; and I wiU take xxxvi.26, 
away the stony heart out of your flesh, and I will give you an ' 
heart of flesh ; and I will put my spirit within you, and 
cause you to walk in my statutes, and ye shall keep my judg- 
ments and do them.' That these prophecies relate to the 
new dispensation cannot be questioned, since Jeremy's words, 
to which the other are equivalent, are cited and applied to it 
in the Epistle to the Hebrews. Now the opposition of the 
one dispensation to the other, as it is here stated, consists in 
this, that whereas the old dispensation was made up of laws 
and statutes that were given on tables of stone, and in writ- 
ing, the new dispensation was to have somewhat in it beside 
that external revelation, which was to be internal, and which 
should dispose and enable men to observe it. 

A great deal of our Saviour's discourse concerning the 

Spirit, which he was to pour on his disciples, did certainly 

belong to that extraordinary efiusion at Pentecost, and to 

those wonderful effects that were to follow upon it; yet as he 

had formerly given this as an encouragement to all men to 

pray, that ' his heavenly Father would give the Holy Spirit to ^^ke xi. 

every one that asked him,' so there are many parts of that his 

last discourse that seem to belong to the constant necessities 

of all Christians. It is as unreasonable to limit all to that 

time, as the first words of it,^I go to prepare a place for J^hnxiv. 

2. 



156 



"^^N EXPOSITION OF 



ART. you and ^ because I live^ ye shall live also/ The prayer 
^- which comes after that discourse^ being extended beyond them 
to all that should ^believe in his name through their word/ we 
have no reason to limit these words^ ^ I will manifest myself 
to him ; My Father and I will make our abode with him ; In 
me ye shall have peace / to the apostles only ; so that the 
guidance^ the conviction^ the comforts^ of that Spirit^ seem to 
be promises which in a lower order belong to all Christians. 
Rom.v. 5. St. Paul speaks of ^the love of God shed abroad in their 
hearts by the Holy Ghost when he was under temptation, 
2 Cor. xii. and prayed thrice, he had this answer, ^ My grace is sufficient 
for thee; my strength is made perfect in weakness/ He prays 
often for the churches in his Epistles to them, that ^God 
would stablish, comfort, and perfect them, enlighten and 
strengthen them / and this in all that variety of words and 
phrases that import inward assistances. This is also meant 
Eph. iii. by ^ Christ^s hving and dwelling in us,^ and by our being 
2 Cor vi ^ J'ooted and grounded in him / our being the temples of 
16. God, a holy habitation to him, through his Spirit;' our being 
Eph. ii.22. ^sealed by the Spirit of God to the day of redemption;' by 
Heb' iv those directions to pray for ^ grace to help in time of need,' 
16. ' and ^to ask wisdom of God that gives liberally to all men;' 
Jam. i. 5. as also by the phrases of ' being born of God,' and ' the 
1 John m. jiaving his seed abiding in us.' These and many more places, 
which return often through the New Testament, seem to put 
it beyond all doubt, that there are inward communications 
from God, to the powers of our souls ; by which we are made 
both to apprehend the truths of religion, to remember and 
reflect on them, and to consider and follow them more effec- 
tually. 

How these are applied to us is a great difficulty indeed, but 
it is to little purpose to amuse ourselves about it. God may 
convey them immediately to our souls, if he will ; but it is 
more intelligible to us to imagine that the truths of religion 
are by a divine direction imprinted deep upon our brain ; so 
that naturally they must aifect us much, and be oft in our 
thoughts : and this may be an hypothesis to explain regene- 
ration or habitual grace by. When a deep impression is once 
made, tiiere may be a direction from God, in the same way 
that his providence runs through the whole material world, 
given to the animal spirits to move towards and strike upon 
that impression, and so to excite such thoughts as by the law 
of the union of the soul and body to correspond to it : this 
may serve for an hypothesis to explain the conveyance of actual 
grace to us : but these are only proposed as hypotheses, that 
is, as methods, or possible ways, how such things may be 
done, and which may help us to apprehend more distinctly 
the manner of them. Now as this hypothesis has nothing in 
it but what is truly philosophical, so it is highly congruous to 
the nature and attributes of God, that if our faculties are 



THE XXXIX ARTICLES. 15? 



fallen under a decay and corruption^ so that bare instruction A R T. 
is not like to prevail over us^ he should by some secret me- ^- 
thods rectify this in us. Our experience teUs us but too often 
what a feeble thing knowledge and speculation is, when it en- 
gages with nature strongly assaulted ; how our best thoughts 
fly from us and forsake us : whereas at other times the sense 
of these things Hes with a due weight on our minds, and has 
another effect upon us. The way of conveying this is invisi- 
ble ; our Saviour compared it to the wind that bloweth where Jolmiii. 8. 
it Hsteth ; no man knows whence it comes, and whither it 
goes.^ No man can give an account of the sudden changes of 
the wind, and of that force with which the air is driven by it, 
which is otherwise the most yielding of all bodies ; to which 
he adds, ^ so is every one that is born of the Spirit.^ This he 
brings to illustrate the meaning of what he had said, that ^ ex- 
cept a man was born again of water and of the Spirit, he could 
not enter into the kingdom of God :^ and to shew how real 
and internal this was, he adds, ^ that which is born of the 
flesh is flesh ;^ that is, a man has the nature of those parents 
from whom he is descended, by flesh being understood the 
fabric of the human body, animated by the soul : in opposi- 
tion to which he subjoins, ^ that which is born of the Spirit is 
spirit ;^ that is to say, a man thus regenerated by the operation 
of the Spirit of God, comes to be of a spiritual nature. 

With this I conclude all that seemed necessary to be 
proved, that there are inward assistances given to us in the 
fiiew dispensation. I do not dispute whether these are fitly 
called grace, for perhaps that word will scarce be found in 
that sense in the scriptures ; it signifying more largely the love 
and favour of God, without restraining it to this act or eff'ect 
of it. The next thing to be proved is, that there is a prevent- 
ing grace, by which the will is first moved and disposed to 
turn to God. It is certain that the first promulgation of the 
gospel to the churches that were gathered by the apostles, is 
ascribed whoUy to the riches and freedom of the grace of God. 
This is fully done in the Epistle to the Ephesians, in which 
their former ignorance and corruption is set forth under the 
figures of blindness, of ^ being without hope, and without God Eph. ii. 2, 
in the world, and dead in trespasses and sins, they following 3, 12. 
the course of this world, and the prince of the power of the 
air, and being by nature children of wrath that is, under 
wrath. I dispute not here concerning the meaning of the 
word by nature, whether it relates to the corruption of our 
nature in Adam, or to that general corruption that had over- 
spread heathenism, and was become as it were another nature 
to them. In this single instance we plainly see that there 
was no previous disposition to the first preaching of the gospel 
at Ephesus : many expressions of this kind, though perhaps 
not of this force, are in the other Epistles. St. Paul, in his 
Epistle to the Romans, puts God's choosing of Abraham upon 



MXTOSITION^ dlF^ 



aM't^ tlii§;^fiat irwas^^^f ^^^^ not of debt^ otherwise Abraham 
^- might have had whereof to glory/ And when he speaks of 
Rom.iv.2. Go^'s ^^sti^g off the Jews, and grafting the Gentiles upon 
that stock from which they were cut oiF, he ascribes it wholly 
Rom. xi. to the goodness of God towards them, and charges them ^ not 
20- to be highminded, but to fear/ In his Epistle to the Corin- 
1 Cor. i. thians he says, that ^ not many wise, mighty, nor noble, were 
26, 27, 29. chosen, but God had chosen the foolish, the weak, and the 
base things of this world, so that no flesh should glory in his 
presence and he urges this further, in words that seem tc 
be as applicable to particular persons, as to communities or 
1 Cor. iv.7. churches : ^ Who maketh thee to differ from another? and 
what has thou, that thou didst not receive ? Now if thou 
didst receive it, why dost thou glory as if thou hadst not 
received it ?^ From these and many more passages of the like 
Isa. Ixv. 1. nature it is plain, that in the promulgation of the gospel, ^God 
was found of them that sought not to him, and heard of them 
that called not upon him f that is, he prevented them by his 
favour, while there were no previous dispositions in them to 
invite it, much less to merit it. From this it may be inferred, 
that the like method should be used with relation to particu- 
lar persons. 

We do find very express instances in the New Testament 
of the conversion of some by a preventing grace : it is said. 
Acts xvi. that ^ God opened the heart of Lydia, so that she attended 
to the things that were spoken of Paul/ The conversion of 
St. Paul himself was so clearly from a preventing grace, that 
if it had not been miraculous in so many of its circumstances, 
it would have been a strong argument in behalf of it. These 
John XV. 5, words of Christ seem also to assert it ; ^ Without me ye can 
le^.^vi. 44. (Jo nothing ; ye have not chosen me, but I you ; and no man 
Phii.ii. 13. come to me, except the Father which has sent me draw 
* him.^ Those who received Christ were ^born not of blood, 
nor of the will of the flesh, nor of the will of man, but of the 
will of God.' God is said ^ to work in us both to will and to 
do of his own good pleasure / the one seems to import the 
first beginnings, and the other the progress, of a Christian 
course of life. So far all among us, that I know of, are agreed, 
though perhaps not as to the force that is in all those places 
to prove this point. 

There do yet remain two points in which they do not agree ; 
the one is the efficacy of this preventing grace ; some think 
that it is of its own nature so efficacious, that it never fails of 
converting those to whom it is given : others think that it 
only awakens and disposes, as well as it enables them to turn 
to God, but that they may resist it, and that the greater part 
of mankind do actually resist it. The examining of this point, 
and the stating the arguments on both sides, will belong more 
properly to the seventeenth Article. The other head, in which 
many do differ, is concerning the extent of this preventing 



THE XXXIX ARTICLES. 159 



grace; for whereas such as do hold it to be efficacious of itself, A R 
restrain it to the number of those who are elected and con- 
verted by it ; others do believe^ that as Christ died for all 
men, so there is an universal grace which is given in Christ to 
all men, in some degree or other, and that it is given to all ^o/T 
baptized. Christians in a more eminent degree ; and that as all .02 
are corrupted by Adam, there is also a general grace given to j .,oO I 
all men in Christ. This depends so much on the former point, ? fis* 
that the discussing the one is indeed the discussing of both ; 
and therefore it sh^U,,npt,,be fu|-titer^^e^^ uppn iii,j;Jii§L| 
place. <:}jmmoo oi es .saosisq 'inhsohnsq oi sid'j3ailqqfi sd 
A>iii> = iedlonn moil lahib oi sorfi rfidrf^m oriW ^ : zsdojudo =t .vi.ioD f 
uodi li wo'/I ^ qy'iqo^i ioa ^abib jjoff^ isdi t.^odi zsd isdw 
ion iebsd uodi 'ii 8b violg irorf:^ iaob ^flw ^ix avisos'x iablb 
sAd ddi \o as^Bggfiq siora jasm hns sssdi moi'i '"i fi bsvidosi 
boO' Jsqaog adi \o noi^tsph/moiq edi ni isdi ^nrslq zi di aiuimi J ,vxl ,BaI 
rnsrfi \o biBod btm ^mid oJ ^on iflgxfoa i^di msdi ^o bnuo^ asw 
:[ ^d msdi bainavsiq arf ^ar isdi \mid aoqu dorr bsHfJo i&di 
oj marfi ni anoiiiaoqaib airoiysiq on Qtsw STSxii sMv/- ffxrov^^ 
^b9Ti9ltni 9d Ji airl:^ moil Ji ihem oi aasl ifonm ^ii efrmi 
'UoiiTBq oi aoh&bi di'm bsaxr ad blnoda bodiam sitd sdi crsdi 

.anoaiaq ibI 

;|rr9fflBj89T wat^ sifi ni aaon-B^am aasiqzs y^9t bn£t ob aW 
^biBa ai ii : 9obi§ gnilnavsiq b Yd" amoa lo noiaiavnoo gdi -lo 
babn9iiB 9da imii oa ^BibyJ ^o iisied edi banaqo boO ^ isdi ,lvi eJdA 
^o noraiaynoo adT Mjjb^ lo nailoqa 9197;- isdi e-galdi adi oi 
ctfidi ,90Bi§ §flfin9T9iq b moilt ylxsalo oa EB^r H98mid Isjb^ ,iS 
^agofTBiamiJoiio aJi \o yhbhi oa ni aj/oLjOBiim n99d ion bsd ii 'H 
QZddT ,ii "io "dsdsd ni inamiig-fB gno'iia b n99d 9YBd bluoir ii 
nso 9'( 9fn iirodii¥/ ^ • ii iiaaaB oi oafs m998 iaiidO ^o abiow tc-vxcdol, 
fiBm on bns i uo^ I i^d ^am naaodo ion aTBd a^ { §fddion ob -iv .3f 
WBib ara inaa aBd doidw -i^disi adi iqaoza ^9m oi 9moo nso ^/^q' 
^boold 3to ion nrad^ aiaw iaiidO bavfaogi odw 9aodT \mid' 
adi lo ind ^nsm lo Hiw gdi io ion .dasfi: 9di \o dm sdi \o ion 
oi bnB Uiw oi diod axr ni ifiow oi ^ b/Ba ai boO ^bc^ lo Hiw 
adi iicqmi oi zmsez eno edi ainaBsIq boog rrrfo aid lo ob 
fi&iliridD B lo ,889i^oiq adi igdio adi bnB ^e-gninm-gad iaxft 
^b99i§B 91B tlo wonif I iBdi ,8ir gnomB Us ib1 08 .aid lo gainoo 
290BJq aaodi Us ni ai isdi eoio\ adi oi 8b ion eqsd'idq dgnodi 

Jnioq zidi syqiq oi 
3i§B ion ob Y9di doidw ni ainioq owi niBrndT: idj ob aiadf 
>-:iiidi amoa ; aoBi^ -gminsYd^iq aidi ^o y^^o^^ ^di ai 9no adi 
alrBl i9V9n ii isdi ^8XforoBof&9 oa 9iJ/iBn nwo aii 'io ax ii isdi 
iadi liiciidi ziBdio : aevi-g ax ii modw oi gaodi gniiiSTnoo 
^■1 oi ra^rft p.^ldsm ii aB Haw as .aaaoqaib bnB 8n9iBY/B ^Ino 
iBdi brxB ,.i.r iaiagi j^sm V9xfi iBdi iud ,boO oi 
mf fxr.-^ A -^/T ,ir ^^1^3-? -'[BuioB ob bniinsm \o 
>ni^iioiaM lu./ ; ,: ; . . ^v.^ sdi ^niiBig adi Lfi. 

idw ni,bB3d lafe,;: - h9qoia 

^aiinavaiq aidi tc Jno:- , y^^ni 



.^i^jC ho^rrrro^ «n7f fioiff^f ins 

^' Ju^' ARTICLE Xi^AK-rdA lo 

,u .m: P Kfmabjn Of the Justification of M^mP^'^^^ !f 

We are acroimtetJ 3^t3!)teotis; before <&oti on\^ for tlje i^^en't of our 
ilortr mxti ^abiotir Btms Cfjrtsit, ijj) dFattI;, anlJ not for our^oimt 
«orlts; or ©e^erbtitg^. OT)erefore tijat be are jiisltift'etJ #ait!; 
only, t£l a mosJt iujole^ome ©octrtne, anlJ ber^ fuU of Comfort, 
more largelj) e^rpre^j^etr in tl^e flomili) of Bn^tiUcatian. 

In order to the riglit iinderstanding this Article, we mu-t first 
consider the true meaning of the terms of which it is made 
tip : ■which ciYe justificationf faith, faith only, and good wotHb ; 
and then^ when these are rightly stated_, we will see what 
judgments are to he passed upon the questions that do arise 
out of this Article. Just, ov justified, are words capable of 
two senses the one is, a man who is in the favour of God hy 
a, mere act of his grace, or upon some consideration not 
founded on the holiness or the merit of the person himself. 
The other is, a man who is truly holy, and as such is beloved 
of God. The use of this word in the New Testament was 
probably taken from the terjaa chasidim among the Jews, a 
designation of such as observed the external parts of the law 
strictly, and were believed to be upon that account much in 
the favour of God; an opinion being generally spread among 
them, that a strict observance of the external parts of the law 
of Moses did certainly put a man in the favour of God. In 
opposition to which, the design of a great part of the New 
Testament is to shew that these things did not put men in; the 
Johniii. favour of God. Our Saviour used the word saved in opposi- 
tion to condemned ; and s])oke oi men who were condemned 
already, as well as of others who were saved. St. Paul enlarges 
more fully into many discourses ; in which our being justified 
and the righteousness of God, or his grace towards us, are all 
terms equivalent to one another. His design in the Epistle 
to the Romans was to prove that the observance of the Mo- 
saical law could not justify, that is, could not put a man under 
the grace or favour of God, or the righteousness of God, that is, 
into a state of acceptation with him, as that is opposite to a 
state of wrath or condemnation: he upon that shews that 
Abraham was in the favour of God before he was circumcised, 
upon the account of his trusting to the promises of God, and 
obeying his commands; and that God reckoned upon these 
acts of his, as much as if they had been an entire course of 
Gen. XV. 6. obedience; for that is the meaning of these words, ^And it 
i^om. IV. 3, was imputed to him for righteousness.' These promises were 
freely made to him by God, when by no previous works of 



THE XXXIX ARTICLES. 



161 



his he had made them to be due to him of debt ; therefore ART. 
that covenant which was founded on those promises^ was the 
^justifying of Abraliam freely by grace/ Upon which St. Paul, 
in a variety of inferences, and expressions, assumes that we are 
in like manner ' justified freely by grace through the redemp- Rom. iii. 
tion in Christ Jesus.^ That God has of his own free good- 24. 
ness offered a new covenant, and new and better promises to 
mankind in Christ Jesus, which whosoever beheve as Abra- 
ham did, they are justified as he was. So that whosoever 
will observe the scope of St. PauFs Epistles to the Romans 
and Galatians, will see that he always uses justification in a 
sense that imports our being put in the favour of God. The 
Epistle to the Galatians was indeed writ upon the occasion 
of another controversy, which was, whether, supposing Christ 
to be the Messias, Christians were bound to observe the Mo- 
saical law or not : whereas the scope of the first part of the 
Epistle to the Romans is to shew that we are not justified 
nor saved by the law of Moses, as a mean of its own nature 
capable to recommend us to the favour of God, but that even 
that law was a dispensation of grace, in which it was a true 
faith like Abraham's that put men in the favour of God ; yet - 
in both these Epistles, in which justification is fully treated 
of, it stands always for the receiving one into the favour of 
God. 

In this, the consideration upon which it is done, and the 
condition upon which it is offered, are two very different 
things. The one is a dispensation of God's mercy, in which 
he has regard to his own attributes, to the honour of his laws, 
and his government of the world : the other is the method in 
which he applies that to us, in such a manner, that it may 
have such ends as are both perfective of human nature, and 
suitable to an infinitely holy Being to pursue. We are never 
to mix these two together, or to imagine that the condition, 
upon which justification is offered to us, is the consideration 
that moves God ; as if our holiness, faith, or obedience, were 
the moving cause of our justification or that God justifies 

♦ ' Faith is the only hand which putteth on Christ unto justification ; and Christ 
the only garment, which, being so put on, covereth the shame of our defiled natures, 
hideth the imperfection of our works, preserveth us blameless in the sight of God, 
before whom, otherwise, the weakness of our faith were cause sufficient to make 
us culpable, yea, to shut us from the kingdom of heaven, where nothing that is not 
absolute can enter.' — Hooker. 

' Justification is the office of God only, and is not a thing which we render unto 
him, but which we receive of him : not which we give to him, but which we take 
of him, by his free mercy, and by the only merits of his most dearly beloved Son, 
our only Redeemer, Saviour, and Justifier, Jesus Christ : so that the true under- 
standing of this doctrine, we be justified freely by faith without works, or that we 
be justified by faith in Christ only, is not, that this our own act to believe in Christ, 
or this our faith in Christ, which is within us, doth justify us, and deserve our jus- 
tification unto us (for that were to count ourselves to be justified by some act or 
virtue that is within ourselves) ; but the true understanding and meaning thereof is, 
that although we hear God's word and believe it, although we have faith, hope, 
charity, repentance, dread, and fear of God within us, and do never so many 
works thereunto : yet we must renounce the merit of all our said virtues, of faith, 

M 



162 



■P%N EXPOSITION OF 



ART. us^ because he sees that we are truly for though it is not 
to be deniedj, but that in some places of the New Testament^ 
u fa justification may stand in that sense^ because the word in its 
true signification will bear it ; yet in these two Epistles, in 
which it is largely treated of, nothing is plainer than that the 
design is to shew us what it is that brings us to the favour of 
God, and to a state of pardon and acceptation : so that justi- 
fication in those places stands in opposition to accusatioii.gnd 
condemnation. .n,r.r frfnfrr 

The next term to be explained is faith ; which in ilie New 
Testament stands generally for the complex of Christianity, 
in opposition to the law, which stands as generally for the 
complex of the whole Mosaical dispensation. So that the 
faith of Christ is equivalent to this, the gospel of Christ; be- 
cause Christianity is a foederal religion, founded on God^s 
part, on the promises that he has made to us, and on the 
rules he has set us ; and on our part, on our believing that 
revelation, our trusting to those promises, and ouj- setting 
ourselves to follow those rules : the believing this revelation? 
and that great article of it, of Christ's being the Son of God, 
and the true Messias, that came to reveal his Father's will, 
and to offer himself up to be the sacrifice of this new cove^ 
nan t, is often represented as the great and only condition of 
the covenant on our part; but still this /ai^/i must receive the 
whole gospel, the precepts as well as the promises of it, and 
receiv^e Christ as a Prophet to teach, and a King to rule, as 
well as a Priest to save us. 

By faith only, is not to be meant faith as it is separated 
from the other evangelical graces and virtues ; but faith, as it 
is opposite to the rites of the Mosaical law: for that was the 
great question that gave occasion to St. PauFs writing so 
fully upon this head ; since many Judaizing Christians, as 
they acknowledged Christ to be the true Messias, so they 
thought that the law of Moses was still to retain its force: in 
Rom. iii. opposition to whom St. Paul says, that ^ we are justified by 

28. ^ - 

Gal.ii. 16. ' 

hope, charity, and all other virtues and good deeds, which we either have done, 
shall do, or can do, as things that be far too weak, and insufficient, and imperfect, 
to deserve remission of our sins, and our justification ; and therefore we must trust 
only in God's mercy, and that sacrifice which our High-priest and Saviour Christ 
Jesus, the Son of God, once offered for us upon the cross, to obtain thereby God's 
grace and remission, as well of our original sin in baptism, as of all actual sin 
committed by us after our baptism, if we truly repent and turn unfeignedly to him 
again. So that as St. John Baptist, although he were never so virtuous and godly 
a man, yet in this matter of forgiving of sin, he did put the people from him, and 
appointed them unto Christ, saying thus unto them, Behold, yonder is the Lamb of 
God, which taketh away the sins of the world : even so, as great and as godly a 
virtue as the lively faith is, yet it putteth us from itself, and remitteth or appointeth 
us into Christ, for to have only by him remission of our sins, or justification. So 
that our faith in Christ (as it were) saith unto us thus. It is not I that take away 
your sins, but it is Christ only, and to him only I send you for that purpose, for- 
saking therein all your good virtues, words, thoughts, and works, and only putting 
your trust in Christ.' Homily of the Salvation of Mankind: Second Part, — [Ed.] 



2 M- 



THE XXXIX ARTICLES. 



163 



faith, without the works of the law.' It is plain that he ART. 
means the Mosaical dispensation, for he had divided all man- 
Idnd into those *^ who were in the law/ and those ^ who were j^o^^ 
without the law/ that is, into Jews and Gentiles. Nor had St. 12. 
Paul any occasion to treat of any other matter in those Epis- 
tles, or to enter into nice abstractions, which became not one 
that was to instruct the world in order to their salvation: 
those metaphysical notions are not easily apprehended by 
plain men, not accustomed to such subtilties, and are of 
very little value, wh6n they are more critically distinguished: 
yet when it seems some of those expressions were wrested 
to an ill sense and use, St. James treats of the same matter, 
but with this great difference, that though he says expressly 
that ' a man is justified by his works, and not by faith only / J ^'^es ii. 
yet he does not say, by the works of the law ; so that he does 
not at all contradict St. Paul; the works that he mentions 
not being the circumcision or ritual observances of Abraham, 
but his offering up his son Isaac, which St. Paul had reckoned 
a part of the faith of Abraham : this shews that he did not 
intend to contradict the doctrine delivered by St. Paul, but 
only to give a true notion of the faith that justifies ; that it is 
not a bare believing, such as devils are capable of, but such 
a beheving as exerted itself in good works. So that the faith 
mentioned by St. Paul is the complex of all Christianity ; 
whereas that mentioned by St. James is a bare believing, 
■without a life suitable to it. And as it is certainly true that 
we are taken into the favour of God, upon our receiving the 
whole gospel, without obser^dng the Mosaical precepts ; so it 
is as certainly true, that a bare professing or giving credit 
to the truth of the gospel, without our living suitably to it, 
does not give us a right to the favour of God. And thus it 
appears that these two pieces of the New Testament, when 
rightly understood, do in no wise contradict, but agree w.ell 
with one another. ,fU 

In the last place, we must consider the signification of good . 
^orks : hj ih&m are not to be meant some voluntary and S 
assumed pieces of severity, which are no where enjoined in =0 
the gospel, that arise out of superstition, and that feed pride 
and hypocrisy : these are so far from deserving the name of 
good ivorksy that they have been in all ages the methods of 
imposture, and of impostors, and the arts by which they have 
gained credit and authority. By good works therefore are 
meant acts of true holiness, and of sincere obedience to the 
laws of the gospel. 

The terms being thus explained, I shall next distinguish 
between the questions arising out of this matter, that are only 
about words, and those that are more material and important. 
If any man fancy that the remission of sins is to be considered 
as a thing previous to justification, and distinct from it, and 
acknowledge that to be freely given in Christ Jesus ; and that 

M 2 



164 



AN EXPOSITION OP 



ART. in consequence of this there is such a grace infused, that 

thereupon the person becomes truly just, and is considered as 

such by God : this, which must be confessed to be the doc- 
trine of a great many in the church of Rome, and which 
seems to be that estabhshed at Trent, is indeed very visibly 
different from the style and design of those places of the New 
Testament, in which this matter is most folly opened : but 
yet after aU it is but a question about words ; for if that 
which they call remission of sins, be the same with that which 
we call justification ; and if that which they caU justification 
be the same with that which we call sanctification, then here 
is ojily a strife of words ; yet even in this we have the scrip- 
tures clearly of our side ; so that we hold the form of sound 
words, from which they have departed. The scripture speaks 
of sanctification as a thing different from, and subsequent to^ 
1 Cor. vi. justification. ' Now ye are washed, ye are sanctified, ye aref; 
justified/ And since justification, and the being in the love^ 
and favour of God, are in the New Testament one and the 
same thing, the remission of sins must be an act of God's 
favour: for we cannot imagine a middle state of being neither 
accepted of him, nor yet under his wrath, as if the remission^; 
of sins were merely an extinction of the guilt of sin withou|5 
any special favour. If therefore this remission of sins is ac«s 
knowledged to be given freely to us through Jesus Christ/^ 
this is that which we affirm to be justification, though under 
another name : we do also acknowledge that our natures? 
must be sanctified and renewed, that so God may take plea-^ 
sure in us, when his image is again visible upon us ; and this 
we call sanctification ; which we acknowledge to be the con- 
stant and inseparable effect oi justification : so that as to this>;- 
w^e agree in the same doctrine, only we differ in the use of the 
terms ; in which we have the phrase of the New Testament 
clearly with us. 

But there are two more material differences between us : il^ 
is a tenet in the church of Rome, that the use of the sacra- 
ments, if men do not put a bar to them, and if they have only 
imperfect acts of sorrow accompanying them, does so far com-, , 
plete those weak acts, as to justify us.* This we do utterly;:: 
deny, as a doctrine that tends to enervate all religion; and to^ 
make the sacraments, that were appointed to be the solemn 
acts of religion, for quickening and exciting our piety, and for 
conveying grace to us, upon our coming devoutly to them, 
become means to flatten and deaden us ; as if they were of 
the nature of charms, which, if they could be come at, though 

* ' Si quis dixerit, sacramenta novae legis non continere gratiam, quam signifi- 
cant, aut gratiam ipsam non ponentibus obicem non conferre, quasi signa tantutt 
externa sint, acceptae per fidem gratise, vel justitiae, et notse quidam Christians? 
professionis, quibus apud homines discernuntur fideles ab infidelibus : Anathema sit.' 

' Si quis dixerit, per ipsa novse legis sacramenta ex opere operato non confern 
gratiam, sed solam fidem divinae promissionis ad gratiam consequendam sufficere 
Anathema sit.' Cone. Trident, canon, et decret. Sessio viii. Can. vi. et viii. — [Ed. 



THE XXXIX AETICLES. 



with ever so slight a preparation^ would make up all defects. ART. 
The doctrine of sacramental justification is justly to be reckoned 
among the most mischievous of all those practical errors that 
are in the church of Rome.* Since^ therefore^, this is no where 
mentioned in all these large discourses that are in the New 
Testament concerning justification^, we have just reason to 
reject it : since also the natural consequence of this doctrine 
is to make men rest contented in low imperfect acts^ when 
they can be so easily made up by a sacrament, we have just 
reason to detest it, as one of the depths of Satan ; the ten- 
dency of it being to make those ordinances of the gospel> 
which were given us as means to raise and heighten our„ MtM 

■>■■ "b 231 ui 

* It is of vital importance that the doctrine of the church of Rome respecting 
the justification of a sinner should be well understood; for this is, after all, the 
g^rand distinguishing difference between us and the papacy. Unacquaintance with ^.jo3 |; 
this article has led many to charge upon the papal church what she does not receive, ^ 
while it has deprived them of the opportunity and power of attacking her system' 
where it is most vulnerable ; thereby giving to the adversary an easy triumph, and: 
to true religion a severe blow. It will not, therefore, be deemed out of place to here 
point out, in the words of the great Hooker, how far we agree, and wherein we differ 
from, and protest against the church of Rome, in this momentous question : ' There is 
a glorifying righteousness of men in the world to come : as there is a justifying and 
sanctifying righteousness here. The righteousness wherewith we shall be clothed in 
the world to come, is both perfect and inherent. That whereby here we are justified 
is perfect ; but not inherent. That whereby we are sanctified is inherent, but not per- 
fect. This openeth a way to the understanding of that grand question, which hangeth 
yet in controversy between us and the church of Rome, about the matter of justifying 
righteousness. First, although they imagine, that the mother of our Lord and 
Saviour Jesus Christ were, for his honour, and by his special protection, preserved 
clean from all sin: yet touching the rest, they teach as we do, that infants that 
never did actually offend, have their natures defiled, destitute of justice, averted 
from God ; that in making man righteous, none do efficiently work with God, but 
God. They teach as we do, that unto justice no man ever attained, but by the 
merits of Jesus Christ. They teach as we do, that although Christ, as God, be the 
efficient ; as man, the meritorious cause of our justice : yet in us also there is some- 
thing required. God is the cause of our natural life, in him we live : but he 
quickeneth not the body without the soul in the body. Christ hath merited to 
make us just : but, as a medicine, which is made for health, doth not heal by being 
made, but by being applied, so, by the merits of Christ there can be no justification, 
without the application of his merit. Thus far we join hands with the church of 
Rome, 

' Wherein then do we disagree ? We disagree about the nature and essence of the 
medicine, whereby Christ cureth our disease; about the manner of applying it ; about 
the number and the power of means, which God requireth in us for the effectual 
applying thereof to our souls' comfort. When they are required to shew what the 
righteousness is whereby a Christian man is justified : they answer, that it is a divine 
spiritual quality; which quality, received into the soul, doth first make it to be one of 
them, who are born of God : and secondly, endue it with power to bring forth such 
works, as they do that are born of him; even as the soul of man being joined to his 
body doth first make him to be of the number of reasonable creatures ; and secondly, 
enable him to perform the natural functions which are proper to his kind; that it 
maketh the soul amiable and gracious in the sight of God, in regard whereof it is 
termed grace ; that it purgeth, purifieth, and washeth out all the stains and pollutions 
of sins ; that by it, through the merit of Christ, we are delivered as from sin, so from 
eternal death and condemnation, the reward of sin. This grace they will have to be 
applied by infusion ; to the end, that as the body is warm by the heat which is in the 
body, so the soul might be righteous by inherent grace : which grace they make ca- 
pable of increase ; as the body may be more and more warm, so the soul more and 
more justified, according as grace should be augmented ; the augmentation whereof 
is m.erited by good works, as good works are made meritorious by it. Wherefore the 
first receipt of grace in their divinity is, the first justification ; the increase thereof. 



166 



^"^AN EXPOSITION OF 



ART. and repentance;, become engines to encourage sloth and kii- 
XI- penitence. "^^ b(tB ,am^ 

There is another doctrine that is held by many, and is stiU 
taught in the church of Rome, not only with approbation, but 
favour; that the inherent holiness of good men is a thing of 
its own nature so perfect, that, upon the account of it, God is 
so bound to esteem them just, and to justify them, that he 
were unjust if he did it not. They think there is such a real 
condignity in it, that it makes men God^s adopted children. 
Whereas we, on the other hand, teach, that God is indeed 
pleased with the inward reformation that he sees in good men, 
in whom his grace dwells ; that he approves and accepts of 

the second justification. As grace may be increased by the merit of good works : so 
it may be diminished by the demerit of sins venial — it may be lost by mortal sin. 
In as much, therefore, as it is needful in the one case to repair, in the other to recover, 
the loss which is made : the infusion of grace hath her sundry after-meals ; for the 
which cause, they make many ways to apply the infusion of grace. It is applied to 
infants, through baptism, without either faith or works, and in them really it taketh 
away original sin, and the punishment due unto it ; it is applied to infidels and 
wicked men in the first justification, through baptism without works, yet not with- 
out faith ; and it taketh away both sins actual and original together, with all what- 
soever punishment, eternal or temporal, thereby deserved. Unto such as have 
attained the first justification, that is to say the first receipt of grace, it is applied 
farther by good works to the increase of former grace, which is the second justifi- 
cation. If they work more and more, grace doth more increase, and they are more 
and more justified. To such as diminished it by venial sins, it is applied by holy 
water, Ave Mai'y's, crossings, papal salutations, and such like, which serve for re- 
parations of grace decayed. To such as have lost it through mortal sin, it is 
applied by the sacrament (as they term it) of penance : which sacrament hath force 
to confer grace anew, yet in such sort, that being so conferred, it hath not alto- 
gether so much power, as at the first ; for it only cleanseth out the stain or guilt 
of sin committed, and changeth the punishment eternal into a temporary satisfactory 
punishment here, if time do serve ; if not, hereafter to be endured, except it be 
lightened by masses, works of charity, pilgrimages, fasts, and such like ; or else 
shortened by pardon for term, or by plenary pardon quite removed and taken 
away. This is the mystery of the man of sin. This maze the church of Rome 
doth cause her followers to tread when they ask her the way to justification. 

' Whether they speak of the first or second justification, they make it the essence 
of a divine quality inherent, they make it righteousness which is in us. If it be 
in us then it is ours, as our souls are ours though we have them from God, and can 
hold them no longer than pleaseth Him ; for if he withdraw the breath of our 
nostrils, we fall to dust : but the righteousness wherein we must be found, if we 
will be justified, is not our own ; therefore we cannot be justified by any inherent 
quality. Christ hath merited righteousness for as many as are foimd in him. In 
him God findeth us if we be faithful, for by faith we are incorporated into Christ. 
Then although in ourselves we be altogether sinful and unrighteous, yet even the 
man which is impious in himself, full of iniquity, full of sin ; him being found in 
Christ through faith, and having his sin remitted through repentance ; him God 
upholdeth with a gracious eye, putteth away his sin by not imputing it, taketh 
quite away the punishment due thereunto, by pardoning it, and accepteth him in 
Jesus Christ, as perfectly righteous, as if he had fulfilled all that was commanded 
him in the law : shall I say more perfectly righteous than if himself had fulfilled 
the whole law ? I must take heed what I say : but the apostle saith, " God made 
him to be sin for us, who knew no sin : that we might be made the righteousness 
of God in him." Such we are in the sight of God the Father, as is the very Son 
of God himself. Let it be counted folly, or frenzy, or fury, whatsoever; it is our 
comfort, and our wisdom ; we care for no knowledge in the world but this, that 
man hath sinned, and God has suffered ; that God hath made himself the Son of 
Man, and that men are made the righteousness of God. You see therefore that 
the church of Rome, in teaching justification by inherent grace, doth pervert the 
truth of Christ, and that, by the hands of the Apostles, we have received other- 
wise than she teacheth.' — [Ed.] 



THE XXXIX ARTICLES. 



tlieir sincerity ; but that with this there is still such a mix- ART. 
ture, and in this there is still so much imperfection^ that even 
upon this account, if God did straitly mark iniquity, none ~~ 
could stand before him : so that even his acceptance of this is 
an act of mercy and grace. This doctrine was commonly 
taught in the church of Rome at the time of the Reformation, 
and, together with it, they reckoned that the chief of those 
works that did justify, were either great or rich endowments, 
or excessive devotions towards images, saints, and relics ; by 
f all which, Christ was either forgot quite, or remembered only 
.for form sake, esteemed perhaps as the chief of saints : not to 
mention the impious comparisons that were made bet^^een him 
and some saints, and the preferences that were given to them 
beyond him. In opposition to all this, the reformers began, 
^■as they ought to have done, at the lapng down this as th^ 
^foundation of all Christianity, and of all our hopes, that we 
^were reconciled to God merely through his mercy, by the 
fiedemption purchased by Jesus Christ ; and that a firm be- 
-iieving the gospel, and a claiming to the death of Christ, as 
^the great propitiation for our sins, according to the terms on 
iwhich it is offered us in the gospel, was that which united us 
-to Christ; that gave us an interest in his death, and thereby 
^justified us. If, in the management of this controversy, there 
J was not so critical a judgment made of the scope of several 
^passages of St. PauFs Epistles ; and if the dispute became 
^afterwards too abstracted and metaphysical, that was the effect 
)iQ£ the infehcity of that time, and was the natural consequence 
Yt>f much disputing : therefore though we do not now stand to 
^|ill the arguments, and to all the citations and illustrations, 
niised by them ; and though we do not deny but that many of 
stJie writers of the church of Rome came insensibly off from 
. the most practical errors, that had been formerly much taught, 
Q^nd more practised, among them ; and that this matter was so 
"Stated by many of them, that, as to the main of it, we have no 
^Just exceptions to it : yet, after all, this beginning of the Re- 
^.Jormation was a great blessing to the w^orld, and has proved 
f'BO, even to the church of Rome ; by bringing her to a juster 
^^lense of the atonement made for sins by the blood of Christ ; 
aiand by taking men off from external actions, and turning them 
consider the inward acts of the mind, faith and repentance, 
%s the conditions of our justification. And therefore the ap- 
b-probation given here to the homily, is only an approbation 
i>^of the doctrine asserted and proved in it ; which ought not to 
^,%e carried to every particular of the proofs or explanations that 
tfiSxe in it. To be justified, and to be accounted righteous, stand 
^or one and the same thing in the Article : and both import 
J^our being dehvered from the guilt of sin, and entitled to the 
^filavour of God. These differ from God's intending from all 
eternity to save us, as much as a decree differs from the execu- 
tion of it. 



168 f 



AN exposition:^X)1^t 



ART. A man is then only justified; yjv^hen he is freed from wratis^i 
and is at peace with God: and though this is freely offered to ? 
us in the gospel through Jesus Christy yet it is applied toxi 
none but to such as come within those qualifications and con-^t 
ditions set before us in the gospel. That God pardons sm^n 
and receives us into favour only through the death of Christ, 
is so fully expressed in the gospel,, as was already made out 
upon the second Article^ that it is not possible to doubt of it/- 
if one does firmly believe^ and attentively read, the New Tes^-i^ 
tament. Nor is it less evident, that it is not oiFered to us 
Gal.v. 6. absolutely, and without conditions and limitations. These 
Luke XXIV. conditions are, repentance, with which remission of sins is often 
Acts ii.38. joi^^d 5 and faith, but a ^ faith that worketh by love, that 
purifies the heart, and that keeps the commandments of God 
such a faith as shews itself to be alive by good works, by acts : 
of charity, and every act of obedience ; by which we demon- a > 
strate, that we truly and firmly believe the divine authority 
of our Saviour and his doctrine. Such a faith as this justifies^ii 
but not as it is a work or meritorious action, that of its owiyid 
nature puts us in the favour of God, and makes us truly just f^r, 
but as it is the condition upon which the mercy of God is 
offered to us by Christ Jesus; for then we correspond to his 
Tit. ii. 14. design of coming into the world, that ^he might redeem us 
from all iniquity,' that is, justify us : and ^ purify unto himself 
a peculiar people, zealous of good works f that is, sanctify us. 
Upon our bringing ourselves therefore under these qualifica- 
tions and conditions, we are actually in the favour of God ; 
our sins are pardoned, and we are entitled to eternal life. 

Our faith and repentance are not the valuable considera- 
tions for which God pardons and justifies ; that is done merely- ^ 
for the death of Christ ; which God having out of the riches 
of his grace provided for us, and offered to us, justification is 
upon those accounts said to be free ; there being nothing on- - 
our part which either did or could have procured it. But stilt . 
our faith, which includes our hope, our love, our repentance, '\'«^ 
and our obedience, is the condition that makes us capable of 
receiving the benefits of this redemption and free grace. And 
thus it is clear, in what sense we believe, that we are justified 
both freely, and yet through Christ; and also through faith, 
as the condition indispensably necessary on our part. 

In strictness of words, we are not justified till the final 
sentence is pronounced ; till upon our death we are solemnly 
acquitted of our sins, and admitted into the presence of God ; 
this being that which is opposite to condemnation : yet as a 
man, who is in that state that must end in condemnation, is 
Johnlii.18. Said to be condemned already, and the wrath of God is said 
to abide upon him ; though he be not yet adjudged to it : so, 
on the contrary, a man in that state which must end in the 
full enjoyment of God, is said now to be justified, and to be 
at peace with God ; because he not only has the promises of 



THE XXXIX ARTICLES. 



169 



that state now belonging to him, when he does perform the A R T. 
conditions required in them ; but is hkewise receiving daily ^^^■^ 
marks of God^s favour, the protection of his providence, 
the ministry of angels, and the inward assistances of his grace 
and Spirit. 

This is a doctrine full of comfort ; for if we did beheve that 
our justification was founded upon our inherent justice, or ■ 
sanctification, as the consideration on which we receive it, we 
should have just cause of fear and dejection; since we could 
not reasonably promise ourselves so great a blessing, upon so 
poor a consideration : but when we know that this is only the ,d JbO 
condition of it, then when we feel it is sincerely received and " ^ ' ■ 
beheved, and carefully observed by us, we may conclude that 
we are justified: but we are by no means to think, that our 
certain persuasion of Christ's having died for us in particular, . 
or the certainty of our salvation through him, is an act of 
saving faithy much less that we are justified by it. Many 5 
things have been too crudely said upon this subject, which : 
have given the enemies of the Reformation great advantages, 
and have furnished them with much matter of reproach. We 
ought to beheve firmly, that Christ died for all penitent and 
converted sinners ; and when we feel these characters in our- 
selves, we may from thence justly infer, that he died for us, ; ^| ^ jH' 
and that we are of the number of those who shall be saved i 
through him : but yet if we may fall from this state, in which : 
we do now feel ourselves, we may and must likewise forfeit J 
those hopes; and therefbre we must /work out our salvation 
with fear and trembling.^ Our believing that we shall be 
saved by Christ, is no act of divine faith ; since every act of 
faith must be founded on some divine revelation : it is only a - 
collection and inference that we may make from this general | 
proposition, that Christ is the propitiation for the sins of those : j 
who do truly repent and beheve his gospel ; and from those j 
reflections and observations that we make on ourselves, by j; 
which we conclude that we do truly bot^ repent and believe. 

,^^53i\ rigjjotd^ oals jbnB ?ighffO ffgnoidi 

.lT£q ii/o no Y*is88ao9n YW^gnsqaibnl nol^lbnoo 9xfi as 

fsnS sdi Hd b95\|U4s\, ion qts sw ^z\mm lo ggsniohia nl 

Ylnmaloa 9tB sw dtob * yo nc ^ sonsinsg 

jboO \o 9on989iq sd^ otol bs;; B3;tiiijpos 

oi ©dlaoMqo ai u^niw ifii'w gnisd ziAi 
^^o-^ m bno isFrri :^nrf^ ^^^^3 ^^^^ ai orfw ^rrism 



17'0 



Of Good Works. i/^^^/gm 

meit ti)at (^oots TOoits^, iol^tc]^ are tje tvuit^ of dFait)^, autr 
follolt) after ^u^tiUcntion, cannot put aioag our ^mg, aniJ 
enUure ti)e ^e^ent^ of (3oV& BuHw^tnt: j)et are tj^ej) pleasmg 
antr acceptable to #ot( antr €^vi^t, antJ t(o spring out mct^^ 
mil^ of a true anlf litiel^ dfatt]^, tni^omucj t]^at tjem a 
Itbeb dFait]^ ma^ be aj; ebttfentXp knofejn, asi a Cree ttii^cerneli 
b»ti;e fruit. ^ irJi sBanboo-g 

That good works are indispensably necessary to salvation ; 
that ^ without holiness no man shall see the Lord f is so fully 
and frequently expressed in the gospel^, that no doubt can be 
.X ; made of it by any who reads it: and indeed a greater dispa- 
ragement to the Christian religion cannot be imagined_, than 
to propose the hopes of God^s mercy and pardon barely upon 
believing without a hfe suitable to the rules it gives us. This 
! .m'j s began early to corrupt the theories of religion^ as it still has 
' ^ but too great an influence upon the practice of it. What St. 
James writ upon this subject must put an end to all doubting 
about it; and whatever subtilties some may have set up, to 
separate the consideration of faith from a holy life, in the point 
of justification ; yet none among us have denied that it was 
absolutely necessary to salvation : and so it be owned as ne- 
cessary, it is a nice curiosity to examine whether it is of itself 
a condition of justification, or if it is the certain distinction 
and constant effect of that faith which justifies. These are 
speculations of very little consequence, as long as the main 
point is stiU maintained; that Christ came to bring m to God, 
to change our natures, to mortify the old man in us, and to 
raise up and restore that image of God, from which we had 
fallen by sin. And therefore even where the thread of men^s 
speculations of these matters may be thought too fine, and 
in some points of them wrong drawn ; yet so long as this 
2 Tim. ii. foundation is preserved, ' that every one who nameth the 
19. name of Christ does depart from iniquity,^ so long the doc- 
trine of Christ is preserved pure in this capital and funda- 
mental point. 

There do arise out of this Article only two points, about 
which some debates have been made. 1st. Whether the good 
works of holy men are in themselves so perfect, that they can 
endure the severity of God^s judgment, so that there is no 
mixture of imperfection or evil in them, or not ? The council 
of Trent has decreed, that men by their good works have so 
fully satisfied the law of God, according to the state of this 



THE XXXIX ARTICLES. 171 



life^ tliat nothing is wanting to them.* The second point is, ART. 
whether these good works are of their own nature meritorious ^^I- 
of eternal life, or not ? The council of Trent has decreed that 
they are : yet a long softening is added to the decree, import- 
ing, That none ought to glory in himself, but in the Lord; 
ivhose goodness is such, that he makes his own gifts to us, to 
be merits in us : and it adds. That because in many things we 
offend all, every one ought to consider the justice and severity, 
as well as the mercy and goodness, of God; and not to judge 
himself, even though he should know nothing by himself So 
then that in which all are agreed about this matter, is, 1. That 
our works cannot be good or acceptable to God but as we are 
assisted by his grace and Spirit to do them : so that the real 
goodness that is in them flows from those assistances which 
enable us to do them. 2. That God does certainly reward 
good works : he has promised it, and ^ he is faithful, and can- 
not he ; nor is he unrighteous to forget our labour of love.-* 
So the favour of God and eternal happiness is the reward of 
good works. Mention is also made of ^ a full reward, of the Matt. x. 
reward of a righteous man, and of a prophets reward/ 3, That 41, 42. 
this reward is promised in the gospel, and could not be claimed 
without that, by any antecedent merit founded upon equality : 
* Since our light affliction, which is but for a moment, worketh 2 Cor. iv. 
f dr us a far more exceeding and eternal weight of glory.' 17. 
«^^The points in which we differ are, 1. Whether the good 
Works of holy men are so perfect, that there is no defect 

8f;*. « Nihil ipsis justificatis amplius deesse credendum est, quominus plene illis qui- 
dsia operibus, quae in Deo sunt facta, divinse legi pro hujus vitse statu satisfecisse, 
■e|;tyitara aetemam suo etiam tempore, si tamen in gratia decesserint consequendam, 
vere promeruisse censeantur. 'Sessio vi. cap. xvi. 

" * Si quis dixerit justitiam acceptam non conservari, atque etiam augeri coram Deo 
per bona opera; sed opera ipsa fructus solummodo et signa esse justificationis 
adeptse, non autem ipsius augendse causam : anathema sit. — Can. xxiv. Sess. vi. 

* Si quis dixerit, hominis justificati bona opera ita esse dona Dei, ut non sint etiam 
bona ipsius justificati merita, aut, ipsum justiiicatum bonis operibus, quae ab eo per 
Dei gratiam, et Jesu Christi meritum, cujus vivum membrum est, fiunt, non vere 
mereri augmentum gratiae, vitam aetemam, et ipsius vitae aeternae, si tamen in gratia 
decesserit, consecutionem, atque etiam gloriae augmentum : anathema sit.' — Can. 
-xxxii. Sess. vi. 

[t ' ? Turn thee yet again, and thou shalt see greater abominations that they do. ' The 
fdllowing, from the same infallible source of truth, will shew that good works not only 
deserve increase of grace and eternal life, but that by them we can make satisfac- 
tion to God the Father ; and, wonderful to relate, not only satisfaction for oneself, 
but actually for another ! I ' 

* Docet praeterea, tantam esse divinae munificentiae largitatem, ut non solum 
poenis sponte a nobis pro vindicando peccato susceptis, aut sacerdotis arbitrio pro 
mensura delicti impositis, sed etiam, quod maximum amoris argumentum est, tem- 
poralibus flagellis a Deo inflictis, et a nobis patienter toleratis, apud Deum Patrem 
per Christum Jesum satisfacere voleamus.' — Sessio xiv. cap. ix. 

' In eo vero summa Dei bonitas, et dementia maximis laudibus, et gratiarum 
actionibus praedicanda est, qui humanae imbecillitati hoc eondonavit, ut imus posset 
pro altero satisfacere, quod quidem hujus partis Pcenitentiae maxime proprie est : ut 
enim, quod ad contritionem, et confessionem attinet, nemo pro altero dolere, aut 
confiteri potest ; ita, qui divina gratia praediti sunt, alterius nomine possunt, quod 
Deo debetur, persolvere ; quare fit, ut quodam pacto alter alterius onera portare 
; yideatur.' Catechis. ex decreto Concil. Trident, ad Paroch. De Poenitentia. — Qu<e 
ad veram satisfactionem '^equirantur,-~[,ED.'] 



172 



9 EXPOSITION OF 



A R T. them; or whether there is still some such defect mixed with 
them, that there is occasion for mercy, to pardon somewhat 
even in good men ? Those of the church of Rome think that 
a work cannot be called good, if it is not entirely good; and 
that nothing can please God in which there is a mixture of 
sin. Whereas we, according to the Article, believe that human 
nature is so weak and so degenerated, that as far as our natural 
powers concur in any action, there is still some allay in it : and 
that a good work is considered by God according to the main, 
both of the action and of the intention of him that does it ; 
and as a father pities his childsen, so God passes over the de- 
fects of those who serve him sincerely, though not perfectly. 
Gen. vi. 5. ^ The imaginations of the heart of man are only evil conti- 
'^^JJJ •..'"•^2. nuaUy : In many things we offend all,' says St. James: and 
14 ' ' St. Paul reckons that *^ he had not yet apprehended, but was 
forgetting the things behind, and reaching to those before, and 
still pressing forward.' . a 

We see, in fact, that the best men in all ages have been coiid^ 
plaining and humbling themselves even for the sins of their 
holy things, for their vanity and desire of glory, for the disg 
traction of their thoughts in devotion, and for the affectioM 
which they bore to earthly things. It were a doctrine of great 
cruelty, which might drive men to despair, if they thought that: 
no action could please God, in which they were conscious to 
themselves of some imperfection or sin. The midwives of 
Egypt feared God, yet they excused themselves by a lie : but 
God accepted of what was good, and passed over what was 
i.xod,i.2i. amiss in them, and ^ built them houses.' St. Austin urges this 
frequently, that our Saviour, in teaching us to pray, has made 
this a standing petition, ^ Forgive us our trespasses,' as well 
ti lif io that, ^Give us this day our daily bread;' for we sin daily, 
and do always need a pardon. Upon these reasons we con- 
clude, that somewhat of the man enters into all that men do : 
we are made up of infirmities, and we need the intercession of 
Christ to make our best actions to be accepted of by God : for 
Psal.cxxx. ^ if he should straitly mark iniquity, who can stand before him ? 
3> 4. but mercy is with him, and forgiveness.' So that with Heze- 
2Chr.xxx. kiah we ought to pray, that ^though we are not purified ac- 
18, 19. cording to the purification of the sanctuary, yet the good Lord 
would pardon every one that prepareth his heart to seek God.' 

The second question arises out of this, concerning the merit 
of good works ; for upon the supposition of their being com- 
pletely good, that merit is founded ; which will be acknow- 
ledged to be none at all, if it is beheved that there are such 
defects in them, that they need a pardon ; since where there 
is guilt, there can be no pretension to merit. The word merit 
has also a sound that is so daring, so little suitable to the humi- 
lity of a creature, to be used towards a Being of infinite ma- 
jesty, and with relation to endless rewards, that though we do 
not deny but that a sense is given to it by many of the church 



THE XXXIX ARTICLES. 



of Rome^ to which no just exception can be made^ yet there ART. 
seems to be somewhat too bold in it^ especially when condig- 
nity is added to it : and since this may naturally give us an 
idea of a buying and selling with God^ and that there has been 
a great deal of this put in practice^ it is certain that on many 
respects this word ought not to be made use of. There is 
somewhat in the nature of man apt to swell and to raise itself 
out of measure^ and to that no indulgence ought to be given^ 
in words that may flatter it ; for we ought to subdue this tem- 
per by all means possible^ both in ourselves and others. On 
the other hand, though we confess that there is a disorder and 
weakness that hangs heavy upon us^ and that sticks close to 
us, yet this ought not to make us indulge ourselves in our ? .^T 
sins, as if they were the effects of an infirmity that is insepa- r tii jiri'i 
rable from us. To consent to any sin, if it were ever so small 
in itself, is a very great sin : we ought to go on, still ^ cleans- 
ing ourselves^ more and more, ^ from all filthiness both of 2 Cor. vii. 
the flesh and of the spirit, and perfecting holiness in the fear ^' 
of God.^ Our readiness to sin should awaken both our dih- 
gence to watch against it, and our humihty under it. For 
though we grow not up to a pitch of being above all sin, and 
of absolute perfection, yet there are many degrees both of 
purity and perfection, to which we may arrive, and to which 
we must constantly aspire. So that we must keep a just 
temper in this matter, neither to ascribe so much to our owtt 
works as to be hfted up by reason of them, or to forget out 
daily need of a Saviour both for pardon and intercession ; not' 
on the other hand so far to neglect them, as to take no care ' '^^^ ' 
about them. The due temper is ^to make our calling and Phil. h. 12- 
election sure, and to work out our own salvation with fear and 
trembling;^ but to do ^all in the name of the Lord Jesus,^ Coi.iii. 17. 
ever trusting to him, and giving thanks to God by hinil* ^^H^ 

noi8299t9im 9di bssn swbnB ^gartmiiitm ^o qi; sbsm sis 9W 
' rd \o b9iq9006 9d oi znoi jo£ i89d mo aisffl oi iaiidO 

■ ifidi o8 ^^8^^9Y^§^olt bns ^mid rijiw ^l Yoi9m di/d 
q ioa 91B QiT ngnodi' ifidi ^Y^iq oi id^uo 9W d^H .xxxoidOS 
bic-J 9ifi i9Y .Y'^Birton^a 9dJ \o noiiBoSiiuq sdi oi ^nibioo • ' 
\box) 21392 oi tiB9d 8id di9'iBq9iq UAi 9no nobiaq blnoY/ 

\ss« ^nijTi90fioo ^aidi \o ^jjo aggha noiiagirp bnoo9a sdT 

i ii9di \o noijiaoqqna 9di rroqu lol \ ^-^-^oos boo^^o 
6 ilfw doidw I babm/ol: ^i ihsm i&Ai t^oo§ Y^9i9lq 
1. iBili bsTsilsd ^i ii Xi JIb is, snort 9d o* b'9^b9l 

? rrobisq js basii \Qd.^ ifidi .mad:} ni g*39l9b 
: o^ fioign9j9iq on sd '^^^"g 
jiloa t^fiiifib 03 gfto, oek 8sd 

3 abfBwoi hs^u ad oj ^sujassto & \o ''^iii 
■; ggslbna oi noiJfii9i dJiw has tX^'&^'i 
rrsvlg zl 98n92 b ijsdi ii/d yngb :Jon 



,9iorn 1970 isfm sbiiin ad {Isds ^9fa;tH girf m MdiiBl 
ARTICLE Xm-ir,, nn as 
Of Works before Justification. • ^hawt 

Morfesl tfone before t\)t (&vnct of Ci^rii^t, anlof tjriri^fetiBit o ff)i& 
Spirit, are not pleasant to ^oU ; fora^^mttci^ t^ew j^pring not 
of dTatt]^ m S^esiuj; Cijri^t, neither Ho tije^ maifee men meet tb 
receibe (^race, or (ajl tl^e ^f]^ool^^ut]^ori^ ^ai)) tfe^erbe ^race of 
Congrutti): ^ea ratl^er, for ti^at t|)ei) are not tfone as; (25otJ J^t^ 
fommantfeU antf imXltii t^tm to be tlone, iue iJoubt not but ,^|j|yt 
tl)e^ ]^afte tje nature of j . , , . ^ ,^ ^.^^ 

There is but one point to be considered in this Article, Wnich 
is, whether men can, without any inward assistances from God, 
do any action that shall be in all its circumstances so good, 
that it is not only accej^table to God, but meritorious in his 
sight, though in a lower degree of merit. If what was forr 
merly laid down concerning a corruption that was spread over 
the whole race of mankind, and that had very much vitiated 
their faculties, be true, then it will follow from thence, that 
unassisted nature can do nothing that is so good in itself, that 
it can be pleasant or meritorious in the sight of God. A great 
difference is here to be made between an external action as it 
is considered in itself, and the same action as it was done by 
such a man. An action is called good, from the morality and 
nature of the action itself ; so actions of justice and charity 
are in themselves good, whatsoever the doer of them may be: 
but actions are considered by God with relation to him that 
does them, in another light ; his principles, ends, and motives, 
with all the other circumstances of the action, come into this 
account ; for unless all these be good, let the action in its own 
abstracted nature be ever so good, it cannot render the doer 
acceptable or meritorious in the sight of God. 

Another distinction is also to be made between the methods 
of the goodness and mercy of God, and the strictness of jus- 
tice : for if God had such regard to the feigned humiliation of 

1 Kings Ahab, as to grant him and his family a reprieve for some time 
xxi.29. from those judgments that had been denounced against them 

2 Kings X. and him j and if Jehu^s executing the commands of God upon 
30,31. Ahab's family, and upon the worshippers of Baal, procured 

him the blessing of a long continuance of the kingdom in his 
family, though he acted in it with a bad design, and retained 
still the old idolatry of the calves set up by Jeroboam ; then 
we have all reason to conclude, according to the infinite mercy 
and goodness of God, that no man is rejected by him, or 
denied inward assistances, that is making the most of his fa- 



THE XXXIX ARTICLES. 



175 



culties^ and doing the best that he can ; but that he who is A R T. 
faithful in his httle_, shall be made ruler over more. 

The question is only^ whether such actions can be so pure^ 
as to be free from all sin, and to merit at God's hand, as being- 
works naturally perfect ? For that is the formal notion of the 
7ne7'it of congruity^ as the notion of the merit of condignity ii?, 
that the work is perfect in the supernatm^al order. 

To estabhsh the truth of this Article, beside what was said 
upon the head of original sin, we ought to consider what St. 
Paul's words in the 7th of the Romans do import : nothing 
^as urged from them on the former Articles, because there is 
just ground of doubting whether St. Paul is there speaking of 
himself in the state he was in when he writ it, or whether he 
is personating a Jew, and speaking of himself as he was while 
yet a Jew. But if the words are taken in that lowest sense, 
they prove this, that an unregenerate man has in himself such 
a principle of corruption, that even a good and a holy law 
revealed to him, cannot reform it ; but that, on the contrary, 
it w'iU ^ take occasion from that very law to deceive him, and Rom. vii. 
to slay him.' So that all the benefit that he receives even ii» 13. 
from that revelation is, that ' sin in him becomes exceeding 
sinful ;' as being done against such a degree of light, by which 
it appears that he is ^ carnal, and sold under sin ;' and that Ver. 14, 
though his understanding may be enlightened by the revela- 
tion of the law of God made to him, so that he has some 
inclinations to obey it, yet he does not that which he would, 
but that which he would not : and though his mind is so far 
convinced, that he ' consents to the law that it is good,^ yet 16, 
*^he still does that which he would not;' which was the effect 
of ' sin that dwelt in him ;' and from hence he knew, ^ tlmt 
in him, that is, in his fleslV in his carnal part, or carnal state, 
' there dwelt no good thing ; for ^ though to will,' that is, to 
resolve on obeying the law, ' was present, yet he found not a 
way how to perform that which was good ;' the good that he 
wished to do, that he did not ; but he did the evil that he 
wished not to do ; which he imputed to the ' sin that dwelt 
in him.' He found then a laiv, a bent and bias within him, 
that when he wished, resolved, and endeavoured, to do good, 
^ evil was present with him,' it sprung up naturally within 21, 
him ; for though in his rational powers he might so far ap- 
prove the law of God as to delight in it ; yet he found ^ an- 23, 
other laV arising upon his mind from his body, ^ which warred 
against the law of his mind, and brought him into captivity to 
the law of sin which was in his members :' aU this made him 
conclude, that ' he was carnal, and sold under sin ;' and cry 
out, ' O wretched man that I am, who shall deliver me from 24, 
the body of this death ?' For this ^ he thanks God through 25. 
our Lord Jesus Christ :' and he sums all up in these words ; 
^ So then, with the mind I myself serve the law of God, but 
with the flesh the law of sin.' 



"'HjG aM ^Exposition of 

A R T. If aU this discourse is made by St. Paul of himself, when 
he had the light which a divinely inspired law gave him, he 
being educated in the exactest way of that rehgion, both zea- 
lous for the law, and blameless in his own observance of it ; 
we may from thence conclude how little reason there is to 
believe that a heathen, or indeed an unregenerated man, can 
be better than he was, and do actions that are both good in 
themselves, which it is not denied but that he may do ; and 
do them in such a manner that there shall be no mixture or 
imperfection in them, but that they shall be perfect in a na- 
tural order, and be by consequence meritorious in a secondary 
order. 

By all this we do not pretend to say, that a man in that 
state can do nothing ; or that he has no use of his faculties : 
he can certainly restrain himself on many occasions ; he can 
do many good works, and avoid many bad ones ; he can raise 
his understanding to know and consider things according to 
the light that he has ; he can put himself in good methods 
and good circumstances ; he can pray, and do many acts of 
devotion, which though they are all very imperfect, yet none 
of them will be lost in the sight of God, who certainly will 
never be wanting to those who are doing what in them lies, to 
make themselves the proper objects of his mercy, and fit sub- 
jects for his grace to work upon. Therefore this Article is 
not to be made use of to discourage men^s endeavours, but 
only to increase their humility ; to teach them not to think of 
themselves above measure, but soberly ; to depend always on 
the mercy of God, and ever to fly to it. 



ART 



Of Works , of Supererogation, moi^ X&m 9W 



niToluntan) Movfesi, bc^itress, ohtv mxti abobc (SotJ'sl Commantrmentjf, 
i))f}xc\) ti)t\y call toorkii of Supererogation, cannot be taugljt 
iuitfjont ^vroganfi) anU fimptet». dTor b» tjem men tso Uedare, 
Ci^at t\)tv iro not onb) rentier unto ^oH mml) as; tJjep are 
bountr to ^0 : but tl^at t^tp tlo more for ^i^ i^afee, tl^an of bounoen 
©utu reijmreU. Wii)ma^ €t)vi^t siaiti) plamlj), tol^en pe !)abe 
"ttone all tijat are fommantretr to ^ou, saVf Wtt are unprofitable 
SerbantJi. . 

daisi iiBO f^d ; g.^no bscf vfi^m biovij bixs -r,, . . , > (sm ob 
^IThbre are two points mat arise out of this Article to be con- 

J^idered, 1st. Whether there are in the New Testament coun- 

V, sels of perfection given ; that is to say, such rules which do 

^:J^ot oblige all men to follow them, under the pain of sin ; but 

Ijyet are useful to carry them on to a sublimer degree of per- Luke xvii. 

ejection, than is necessary in order to their salvation. 2d. lo. 

Whether men by following these do not more than they are 

^^ound to do, and, by consequence, whether they have not 

Ij^thereby a stock of merit to communicate to others. The first 

j^pf these leads to the second ; for if there are no such counsels, 

, then the foundation of supererogation fails. 

We deny both upon this ground, that the great obligations 

of ' loving God with all our heart, soul, strength, and mind. Matt. xxii. 

and our neighbour as ourselves,^ which are reckoned by our 36—40, 

Saviour the ^ two great commandments, on which hang all the 

Law and the Prophets,' are of that extent, that it seems not 

possible to imagine, how any thing can be acceptable to God, 

that does not fall within them. Since if it is acceptable to 

God, then that obligation to love God so entirely must bind 

us to it ; for if it is a sin not to love God up to this pitch, 

then it is a sin not to do every thing that we imagine will please 

him : and, by consequence, if there is a degree of pleasing 

God, whether precept or counsel, that we do not study to 

attain to, we do not love him in a manner suitable to that. It 

seems a great many in the church of Rome are aware of this 

consequence, and therefore they have taken much pains to 

convince the world that we are not bound to love God at all, 

or, as others more cautiously word it, that we are only bound 

to value him above all things, but not to have a love of such 

a vast intention for him. This is a proposition that, after all 

their softening it, gives so much horror to every Christian, 

that I need not be at any pains to confute it. 

We are further required in the New Testament, ^ to cleanse ^ Cor, 



17B 



AN EXPOSITION OF 



Aj RjT. ourselves from all filthiness both of the flesh and spirit, per-^; 
XI fecting holiness in the fear of God and to reckon ourselves 
i~Cor. vi. ^ his^ and not our own/ and that ^ we are bought with a price 
20. and that therefore ^ we ought to glorify him both in omr bodies,, 
and in our spirits, which are his/ These and many more likCj 
expressions are plainly precepts of general obligation, for 
nothing can be set forth in more positive words than these; 
are : and it is not easy to imagine, how any thing can go be- 
yond them ; for if we are Christ's property, purchased by him, 
then we ought to apply ourselves to every thing in which hia 
honour, or the honour of his religion, can be concerned, 
which wiU be pleasing to him. 

Our Saviour having charged the Pharisees so often, ferii 
Isai. xxix. adding so many of their ordinances to the laws of God, ' teach- 
13. Matt, ing his fear by the precepts of men,' and the apostles con- 
Colos7"u d^i^i^i^g show of will-worship and voluntary humility,' 
18. * seem to belong to this matter, and to be designed on purpose 
to repress the pride and singularities of affected hypocrites. 
Matt. xix. Our Saviour said to him that asked, ^ What he should do 
that he might have eternal life ?— Keep the commandments/ 
These words I do the rather cite, because they are followed 
with a passage, that, of all others in the New Testament, 
seems to look the likest a counsel of perfection ; for when he^ 
who made the question, replied upon our Saviour's answer^ 
Ver.20,21. that ^he had kept all these from his youth up,' and added, 
^what lack I yet?' to that our Saviour answered, ^If thou wilt 
be perfect, go sell all that thou hast, and give to the poor, and 
thou shalt have treasure in heaven ; and come and follow me / 
and by the words that follow, of the difficulty of a ^rich man's en^ 
teringinto the kingdom of heaven,' this is more fuUy explained^ 
The meaning of all that whole passage is this ; Christ called 
that person to abandon aU, and come and foUow him, in such 
adnanner as he had called his apostles. So that here is no 
#unsel, but a positive command given to that particular per^ 
son upon this occasion. By perfect is only to be meant comr 
plete^ in order to that to which he pretended, which was eter* 
nal life. And that also explains the word in that period^ 
treasures in heaven, another expression for eternal life, to 
compensate the loss which he would have made by the sale of 
his possessions. So that here is no counsel, but a special 
command given to this person, in order to his own attaining 
eternal life. 

Nor is it to be inferred from hence^ that this is proposed to 
others in the way of a counsel ; for as in cases either of a 
famine or persecution, it may come to be to some a command, 
to sell all in order to the refief of others, as it was in the first 
beginnings of Christianity; so in ordinary cases to do it, might 
be rather a tempting of Providence than a trusting to it, for 
then a man should part with the means of his subsistence, 
which God has provided for him, without a necessary and 



THE XtXlX ARTICLES. 



179 



pifessing ocG^sion. Thetefdffe <iui^ Saviour's wotdsy ' Sell that^^ A^lP'f^ 
have^ and give alms/ as they are delivered in the strain and ^}^: 
}ieremptoriness of a command^ so they must be understood to Luk^ MP ^ 
bind as positive commands do : not so constantly as a nega- 33. OS" 
tive command does, since in every minute of our life that 
binds : but there is a mle and order in our obeying positive 
commands. We must not rest on the sabbath-day^ if a work 
of necessity or charity calls us to put to our hands : we must 
not obey our parents in disobeying a public law : so if we have 
famihes, or the necessities of a feeble body, and a weak con-- 
stitution, for which God hath supplied us with that which w'ill 
afford us '^food convenient for us/ we must not throw up Prov. xxx. 
those provisions, and cast ourselves upon others. Therefore ^• 
that precept must be moderated and expouncled, so as to 
agree with the other rules and orders that God has set us. 

A distinction is therefore to be made between those things 
that do universally and equally bind all mankind, and those .1 
things that do more specially bind some sorts of men, and tliat 
only at some times. There are greater degrees of charityl 
gravity, ahd all other virtues, to which the clergy for instance ° ' * 
are more bound than other men ; but these are to them prei 
cepts, and not counsels. And in the first beginnings of Chris- 
tianity there were greater obligations laid upon all Christians, 
as well as greater gifts were bestowed on them. It is true, in 
the point of marriage St. Paul does plainly allow, that such as ;S.is¥ 
' marry do well, but that such as marry not do better.' But 1 Cor. vii. 
the nieaning of that is not as if an unmarried life were a state 
of perfection, beyond that which ia man is obliged to : _ but 
only this ; that as to the course of this liie, and the present- 
distress ;2Lnd as to the judgment that is to be made of men 
by their actions, no man is to be thought to do amiss who 
9na7Tles ; but yet he who marries not, is to be judged to do 
better. But yet inwardly and before God this matter may be 
far otherwise : for he who t7iarries mt and burns, certainly 
does worse than he who niarries and lives chastely. But he 
who finding that he can limit himself without endangering his 
purity ; though no law restrains him from maTrying, yet seeing 
that he is like to be tempted to be too careful about the con- 
cerns of this life if he mame5, is certainly under obligations 
to follow that course of life in which there are fewer temptar- 
tions, and greater opportunities to attend on the service of 
God. 

f With relation to outward actions, and to the judgments that 
froth visible appearances are to be made of them, some actions 
may be said to be better than others, which yet are truly 
good: but as to the particular obhgations tbat every man is 
under, with relation to his own state and circumstances, and 
for which he must answer at the last day, these being secret, 
s^nd so not subject to the judgments of men, certainly every 
inan is strictly bound to do the best he can ; to choose that 

2 N 



180 



AN EXPOSITltTN OF 



A R T. course of life in which he thinks he may do the best semces 
to God and man : nor are these free to him to choose or not : 
he is under obligations^ and he sins if he sees a more excellent 
thing that he might have done, and contents himself with a 
lower or less valuable thing. St. Paul had wherein to glorp ; 
for whereas it was lawful for him as an apostle to suffer the Co- 
V , rinthians to supply him in temporals, when he was serving them 
in spiritual things ; yet he chose rather for the honour of the 
gospel, and to take away all occasion of censure from those 
Acts XX. who sought for it, ' to work with his own hands, and not to be 

1 Cor i burdensome to them/ But in that state of things, though 
18. ' ' there was no law or outward obhgation upon him to spare 

2 Cor. xii. them ; he was under an inward law of doing all things to the 

glory of God : and by this law he was as much bound, as if 
there had been an outward compulsory law lying upon him. 

This distinction is to be remembered, between such an obli- 
gation as arises out of a man^s particular circumstances, and 
such other motives as can be only known to a man himself, 
and such an obhgation as may be fastened on him by stated 
and general rules : he may be absolutely free from the latter 
of these, and yet be secretly bound by those inward and 
stronger constraints of the love of God, and zeal for his glory. 
Enough seems to be said to prove that there are no counsels 
of perfection in the gospel ; that all the rules set to us in it 
are in the style and form of precepts ; and that though there 
may be some actions of more heroical virtue, and more sub- 
lime piety, than others, to which all men are not obliged by 
equal or general rules ; yet such men, to whose circumstances 
and station they do belong, are strictly obliged by them, so 
that they should sin, if they did not put them in practice. 

Tliis being thus made out, the foundation of works of su- 
pererogation is destroyed. But if it should be acknowledged 
that there were such counsels of perfection in the scripture, 
there are still two other clear proofs, to shew that there can 
be no such thing as supererogating with God. First, every 
man not only has sinned, but has stiU so much corruption 
James iii.2. about him, as to feel the truth of that of St. James, '^in many 
things we offend aU.^ Now unless it can be supposed that, 
by obeying those counsels, a man can compensate with 
Almighty God for his sins, there is no ground to think that 
he can supererogate. He must first clear his own score, be- 
fore he can imagine that any thing upon his account can be 
forgiven or imputed to another: and if the guilt of sin is 
eternal, and the pretended merit of obeying counsels is only 
temporary, no temporary merit can take off an eternal guilt. 
So that it must first be supposed, that a man both is and has 
been perfect as to the precepts of obligation, before it can be 
thought that he should have an overplus of merit. 

The other clear argument from scripture against works of 
supererogation is, that there is nothing in the whole New 



ri^ Mwmmts. 181 

Testament that does iu^any sort favour therti; are always A irr. 
taught to trust to the mercies of God^ and to the death and 
mtercession of Christy and ^ to work out our own salvation pi^ii ii 12. 
with fear and trembhng but we are never once directed to 
look for any help from saints^ or to think that we can do any 
thing for another man^s soul^ in this way. The Psalm has it^ 
^ No man can by any means give a ransom for his brother's Ps. xHx. 7. 
soul the words of Christ cited in the Article are full and 
express against it. 

The words in the parable of the five foolish virgins and the -' '^^ 
five wise^ may seem to favour it^ but they really contradict it ; ] 
for it was the foohsh virgins that desired the wise to give 
them of their oil ; which if any will apply to a supposed com- 
munication of merits they ought to consider that the propo- 
sition is made by the foolish^ and the answer of the wise 
virgins is full against it : Not so_, lest there be not enough Matt. xx v. 
for us and you.' What follows^ of bidding them ' go to 
them that sell^ and buy for themselves_,' is only a piece of the 
fiction of the parable, which cannot enter into any part of the 
apphcation of it. What St. Paul says of his ^fiUing up that^°^-'*^^ 
which was behind of the afflictions of Christ in his flesh, for 
his body's sake, which is the church,' is, as appears by the 
words that follow, ^whereof I am made a minister,' only 
apphcable to the edification that the church received from the 
sufferings of the apostles ; it being a great confirmation to 
them of the truth of the gospel, when those who preached it 
suffered so constantly and so patiently for it ; by which they 
both confirmed what they had preached, and set an example 
to others, of adhering firmly to it. And since Christ is related 
to his church, as a head to the members, it is in some sort 
his suffering himself, when his members suffer: and that con- 
formity which they ought to express to him as their head was 
necessary to make up the due proportion, that ought to be 
between the head and the members. So St. Paul rejoiced in 
his being made conformable to him : and this, as it is a sense 
that the words will well bear, so it is certain they are capable 
of no other sense ; for if the sufferings of the apostles were 
meritorious in behalf of the other Christians, some plain 
account must have been given of this in the New Testament, 
at least to do honour to the memory of such apostles as had 
then died for the faith. If it is suggested, that the living 
apostles were too modest to claim it to themselves, that will 
not satisfy ; all runs quite in a contrary style : the mercies of 
God and the blood of Christ being always repeated, whereas 
these are never once named. Now to imagine that there 
can be any thing of such great use to us, in which the scrip- 
ture should be not only silent, but should run in a strain 
totally different from it, is not conceivable : for if in any 
thing, the gospel ought to be full and explicit in all that which 



ART. coric^Snfe 'f%Wt&-'Qk^^ rfegSiici&tiOTi' wit5i 'God, arid -Ifefe 
XIV. means of our escaping his wrath, and obtaining his favouir, -q 
There is another doctrine that does also belong to this 
^ead, which is purgatory, that is not to be entered on here, 
but is referred to its proper place. Thus it appears, how ill 
this doctrine of works of supererogation is founded ; and upon 
how many accounts it is evidently false; and yet upon it has 
been built not only a theory of a communication of those 
merits, and a treasure in the church, but a practice of so foul 
a nature, that in it the words of our Saviour spoken to the 
Markxi. Jews, ^My housc is a house of prayer, but ye have made it a 
den of thieves,^ are accomplished in a high and most scanda- 
lous manner. It has been pretended that this was of the 
tfttture of a bank, of which the pope was the keeper; and that 
he could grant such bills and assignments^ upon it as he 
pleased this was done in so base and so crying a manner, 
that all who had any sense of probity in their own church 
were ashamed of it. 

In the primitive church there were very severe rules made, 
obliging air that had sinned publicly (and they wer^ after- 
wards apphed to such as had sinned secretly) to continue for 
many years in a state of separation from the sacrament, and 
of penance and discipline. But because all such general rules 
admit of a great variety of circumstances, taken from men% 
sins, their persons, and their repentance, there was a power 
given to all bishops by the council of Nice, to shorten the 
time, and to relax the severity, of those canons ; and such 
favour as they saw cause to grant was called indulgence. 
This was just and necessary, and was a provision without 
which no constitution or society can be well governed. But 
after the tenth century, as the popes came to take this power 
in the whole extent of it into their own hands, so they found 
it too feeble to carry on the great designs that they grafted 
upon it. 

They gave it high names, and called it a plenary remission, 
and the pardon of all sins : which the world was taught to 
look on as a thing of a much higher nature, than the bare 
excusing of men from discipline and penance. Purgatory f 

* ' Upon the whole then it is evident, that the doctrine of purgatory is of 
heathen original ; that the tire of it is, like the thunder of the Vatican, a harmless 
thing, which no wise man would be afraid of, were it not too often attended with 
church thunderbolts, persecutions, and massacres ; and that it only serves to cheat 
the simple and ignorant out of their money, by giving them bills of exchange 
upon the other world for cash paid in this, without any danger of the bills return- 
ing protested.' Meagher's Popish Mass. A just exposure of this iniquitous traf- 
fic— [Ed.] 

t ' The doctrine of purgatory is the mother of indulgences, and the fear of 
that hath introduced these : for the world happened to be abused like the coun- 
tryman in the fable, who, being told he was likely to fall into a delirium in his feet, 
was advised for remedy to take the juice of cotton. He feared a disease that was 
not, and looked for a cure as ridiculous.' Bishop Taylor. — [Ed.] 



THE XXXIX ARTICLES. 



183 



was then got to be firmly believed, and aU men were strangely A R T. 
possessed with the terror of it : so a deliverance from pur- 
gatory, and by consequence an immediate admission into 
heaven, was beheved to be the certain elFect of it. And to 
support all tliis, the doctrine of counsels of perfection, of 
works of super ei'ogation, and of \hQ communication of those 
merits, was set up ; and to that this was added, that a trea- 
sure made up of these, was at the pope^s disposal, and in his 
keeping. The use that this was put to, was as bad as the 
forgery itseK. Multitudes were by these means engaged to 
go to the Holy Land to recover it out of the hands of the /i 
Saracens: afterwards they armed vast numbers against the ■■ 
heretics to extirpate them : they fought also ail those quarrels 
wluch their ambitious pretensions engaged them in with em- 
perors and other princes, by the same pay ; and at last they 
set it to sale with the same impudence, and almost with the 
same methods, that mountebanks use in the venting of their 
secrets. 

This was so gross even in an ignorant age, and among the 
ruder sort, that it gave the first rise to the Reformation : and 
as the progress of it was a very signal work of God, so it wa^ 
in a great measure owing to the scandals that this shameless 
practice had given the world. And upon this single reason il 
is that this matter has been more fully examined than was 
necessary; for the thing is so plain, that it has no sort 

- ''' - 3aw bMT 

3ua .borne oa Aoldw 

i9woq ^i[h o . : 

hmsol \3d-j L 

. t 8i3W hh'yr ^ 



■n)8 Xiao .; . 
ellrxl x 

"li 1o 97agoqx9 ;. 



184 



ART. (jjoijwb f^iiuDoq 9fB ..au Hn ni anijsfnsi noiiqin' 

~" aoqjj balko aW ^feTlCLE i'^^ ^^^^ ^ 

, 1 ^89ii8oqi3 9xfi V ■ / :ai9Aiw 

8W iguorf^ b, Of Christ alon%witho\i^ 

Cjni^t m tl;c tritt!) of out natltre lijaiS tttaWT&i; Unto «5 m 
all tl^tngfii (5in onlw except) from by{)id) fjt bjaS dearly boib 
60 1]^ in ^tsi) miiS in sipmt. He came to be a Eamb loit]^* J 
out ;^pot, iul)o, bp ;gacnfice of l^toelf once matle, iljoultf tafee j 
atuap tl)e ^tniS of tlje TOorltf: ants Sin, as John isaitj, toajf ^ 
not in i^im, J3ut all U)e tl^e rest (altljougl) bapti^eU mxiS born '..^ 
again in Cl^ris't) j)et offentr in manp things! ; anU if lue sa^ h)^ 
Jabe no i^ui, iue trecetbe ouriSelbej^, antr tl^e trutlj 1;^ not 4^ ,«% 

This Article relates to the former^ and is put here as another j 
foundation against all works of supererogation : for that doc- ^ 
trine^ with the consequences of it^ having given the first occa- 
sion to the Reformation^ it was thought necessary to overthrow 7 
it entirely; and because the perfection of the saints must be ,j 
supposed^ before their supererogation can be thought on^ tlip^^^ 
was therefore here opposed. 
I^eb.vii. That Christ was /holy^ without spot and blemish^ harm- ^ 
lPet,ii.22. lessj undefiled^ and separate from sinners;^ that there was 
Acts X.38. ^no guile in his mouth f that he never did amiss^ but ^ went 
1 Pet. 1. 19. about always doing good/ and was as a ^ lamb without spot/ 
is so oft affirmed in the New Testament^ that it can admit 
of no debate. This was not only true in his rational powers_, 
the superior part called the spirit, in opposition to the lower j 
part^ but also in those appetites and aiFections that arise from 
our bodies^ and from the union of our souls to them^ called 
the Jlesh, For though in these Christy having the human 
nature truly in him_, had the appetites of hunger in him, 
yet the Devil could not tempt him by that to distrust God, 
or to desire a miraculous supply sooner than was fitting : he 
overcame even that necessary appetite, whensoever there was 
Johniv.34. an occasion given him '^to do the will of his heavenly Father:' ,^ 
he had also in him the aversions to pain and suifering, and 
the horror at a violent and ignominious death, which are 
planted in our natures ; and in this it was natural to him to 
wish and to pray that the cup might pass from him. But in 
this his purity appeared the most eminently, that though he 
felt the weight of his nature to a vast degree, he did, not- 
withstanding that, limit and conquer it so entirely, that he 
Si^^on'^^^* resigned himself absolutely to his Father's will: '^Not my will, 
but thy will be done.' 

Besides all that has been already said upon the former 
Articles, to prove that some taint and degree of the original 



THE XXXIX ARTICLES. 



185 



corruption remains in all men ; the peculiar character of A R T: 
Christ's holiness so oft repeated, looks plainly to be a dis- 
tinction proper to him, and to him only. We are called upon 
to follow him, to learn of him, and to imitate him, without 
restriction; whereas we are required to ^follow the apostles, iCor. xi.i. 
only as they were the followers of Christ:^ and though we^^®^-^-^^- 
are commanded ^ to be holy as he was holy in all manner of 
conversation ;^ that does no more prove that any man can 
arrive at that pitch, than our being commanded ^ to be perfect Matt.v.48. 
as our heavenly Father is perfect,^ mil prove that we may 
become as perfect as God is : the importance of these words 
being only this, that we ought in all things to make God and 
Christ our patterns ; and that we ought to endeavour to imi- 
tate and resemble them all we can. 

There seems to be a particular design in the contexture 
and writing of the scriptures, to represent to us some of 
the faiUngs of the best men : for though Zacharias and Eliza- - 
beth are said to have been blameless, that must only be Luke i. 6. 
meant of the exterior and visible part of their com^ersation, 
that it was free from blame, and of their being accepted of 
God ; but that is not to be carried to import a sinless purity 
before God : for we find the same Zachary guilty of mis- Ver. 20. 
believing the message of the angel to him, to such a degree^ 
that he was punished for it with a dumbness of above nine ^^li 
months^ continuance. Perhaps the Virgin's question to the ? ^ 
angel had nothing blameworthy in it: but our Saviour's an- ' 
swers to her, both when she came to him in the temple, Luke ii.is*^ 
when he was twelve years old, and more particularly when 
she moved him, at the marriage in Cana, to fui'nish them Jolm ii. 4. 
wdth wine, look like a reprimand. The contentions among 
the apostles about the pre-eminence, and in particular the 
ambition of James and John, cannot be excused. St. Peter's Matt. xx. 
dissimulation at Antioch in the Judaizing controversy, and 20, 24. 
the sharp contention that happened between Paul and Bar- ^^^'-^g- 
nabas, are recorded in scripture, and they are both characters Acts x'v. 
of the sincerity of those who penned them, and hkewise 39. 
marks of the frailties of human nature, even in its greatest 
elevation, and with its highest advantages. So that all the 
high characters that are given of the best men, are to be ^ ' 
understood either comparatively to others whom they ex- 
ceeded, or with relation to their outward actions, and the 
visible parts of their life : or they are to be meant of their 
zeal and sincerity, which is valued and accepted of God : 
and, as it was to Abraham, is imputed to them for right- 
eousness. 

Yet this is not to be abused by any to be an encourage- 
ment to hve in sin ; for we may carry this purity and perfec- 
tion certainly very far, by the grace of God. In every sin 
that we commit we do plainly perceive, that we do it with so 
much freedom, that we might not have done it; here is still 



18^ 



hAN EiXEOSITION OF 



A RT. j^st matter for humiliation and repentance. By this doctrine 
X V. our church intends only to repress the pride of vain-glorious 
and hypocritical men, and to strike at the root of that filthy 
merchandise that has been brought into the house of God, 
under the pretence of the perfection, and even the overdoing 
or supererogating, of the saints. 

^tUmn sas^ ^f^^ ^^^^^ .m^ilp^ ntlsi 
^ijj- ix^nnu ,nhuim tUI to ^maig mia i'^H'^^ mtrntsi 
^nB^ .h.%^)M im \imtm-^m mjagn s&hB %mt tut €a^U%%hi-^ 
nmti m %%it pfe ^t%mmtm% s<J ol$-m tja^l 3-joIw3(!J. 

ftoqu ^snhiooB luo lo iisq b abjsin mu sldfidoiq ai :ii oa ^Wo 
g,e ^9mii c^fidi is> ^odw ^gigsisnfftas siii lo smoa lo inuooDS srfl 
^^^o:ol;to9li9q ih^i idglm ^BY^b iifo m oh sraoa aiJ Mow 

.QsaiiBil^ & lo ' is^OBisda ©di lo iisq isdi ff:iiw nioj; him 
, -inuq bm ST^afiao lo inogii sid^noasQinu lo isdio 

bslfeo 9moH lo doindo sdJ ni enk bfisjgtgbnu oi 
^Bfiia smoa li as 9is ifidi8i9dJo noiii^oqqo ni ^\s>^%os«« 

bfups ^wbI 'M lo gfloMolv bii^ ^boD ^gniBgs ggonofto dguodi 
liSYiaasb ^^^^^ ^^^"^^ ^agfiMi .trfgllg dowa OTnisn nwo lisdi lo 9d 
n.fno8 xd bs^tBiqxs ad 9i9W has, •-^inamdamuq lsioqm9;t ^I^o 
sffi iO noiJ^oliinfflmos sd^ lo ^noiioY9b 10 90fiBn9q lo Qooiq 
imdi gJi asdossi gisdw on m^^ho^ ariT oSigdio lo eiiigra 
fi; 9i9dT aid lo 10 ^boD lo Y^s^Lsffl 9d^ lo ^IMgda 08 

; "!§nid3 Es 111 ^on dd9uni.1fi09 i.Bdi ^ ano ^^Qva noqir ^vm'^ 
ciiB bii.e rasd^ ob oi wsl srii lo iood siii ni n9dihw 9ifi 
bsmssbsi ion. bsii ^ahriO 11 en no fl99d STsd ^anra 98inj> 

c;^ ■:)r--I, .:tS t":A ^dteb 81 mis lo g9§iJW odT^ lii mo'ii 80 

.3 lo fiol;tJ3DlIqffl09 s dona ai siadi Isdi ^8ii988is 
: . siis bflis ^adions ano diiw d^od ^boD lo wsl odi lo 
• Inloq 91X0 m abnalio oAw gd^ i^edi ^TOYigwd sdi lo jihoAi 
,b}m. Bu «9vl§ blow aid nl asd boO sama Y^liif§ 
3di lo bxiij 3H lo gnolgnadaiqqs Mbjjsib 

Qdi lo Y^^^r^^^J wolsd 99i§9b B 9a9di n9ilo3 ion otsh 
.-t^...^ r.r. J ^-iLnr-^^b ed:! bun ^bor) hmsis 

. \ QIJ8 9W Jfe ISilK 

, :^''.?3 aula lla 
■ini bus 

'ii ladio y<-^ 
V'sisdilsb 



THE iC^MD^QtMCMiSS. 



187 



>vi o/i^KTlCLB^JXp^. .nam IsohnooqiA him 
uobiavo iiQYQOf Sin after Baptism. 'I ^^^^ 

ftot tberi) bcatJlj) slin feillmglo commtttetJ after ISaptijSm til tl^e 
£{in againsit ti)t floli) ^Jo^^* tmpartlonabU. W^mfovz 
tf)t ^ant oi repentance t5 not to be trenielr to ^ucf) a^s fall into 
^in after JSaptii^m. 0fter toe Ijabe receilietr tl^e ^ol^ <^l;o£;t, 
toe ma^ tiepart from g;race giten, antJ fall into ilin, mH bp ti^e 
grace of ^otJ toe mag art^ge again anU amentf our EtbeiS. flntf 
therefore t]^ep are to be contJemnetJ, tol)ic5 ^^ag tjep can no more 
£lm a!^ long a£l tl)ep libe ]^ere, or tleni) ti)t place of forgibenejiisf to 
^uci^ a£{ trulg repent. 

This Article, as it relates to the sect of the Novatians of 
old, so it is probable it was made a part of our doctrine, upon 
the account of some of the enthusiasts, who, at that time, as 
well as some do in our days, might boast their perfection, 
and join with that part of the character of a Pharisee, this 
other of an unreasonable rigour of censure and punishment 
against offenders. By deadly sin in the Article, we are not 
to understand such sins as in the church of Rome are called 
mortal, in opposition to others that are venial : as if some sins, 
though offences against God, and violations of his law, could 
be of their own nature such slight things, that they deserved 
only temporal punishment, and were to be expiated by some 
piece of penance or devotion, or the communication of the 
merits of others. The scripture no where teaches us to think 
so slightly of the majesty of God, or of his law. There is a 
curse upon every one ^ that continueth not in all things which cal. iii.io. 
are written in the book of the law to do them and the same 
curse must have been on us all, if Christ had not redeemed 
us from it : ^ The wages of sin is death.^ And St. James Rom. vi. 
asserts, that there is such a comphcation of aU the precepts 23. 
of the law of God, both with one another, and with the au- 
thority of the lawgiver, that ^ he who offends in one point is jam.ii. lO, 
guilty of aU.^ So, since God has in his word given us such ii. 
dreadful apprehensions of his wrath and of the guilt of sin, we 
dare not soften these to a degree below the majesty of the 
eternal God, and the dignity of his most holy laws. But, 
after all, we are far from the conceit of the Stoics, who made 
all sins ahke. We acknowledge that some sins of ignorance 
and infirmity may consist with a state of grace; which is 
either quite destroyed, or at least much ecUpsed and clouded 
by other sins, that are more heinous in their nature, and more 
dehberately gone about. It is in this sense that the word 
deadly sin is to be understood in the Article : for though in 



188 



EXPOSITION 6F * 



A HT. the strictness of justice every sin is deadly, yet m me dispen- 
sation of the gospel^, those sins are only deadly, that do deeply 
^ound the conscience^ and that drive away grace, 
f,,. Another term in the Article needs also to be a little ex- 
plained; the sin against the Holy Ghost; concerning which, 
since there is so severe a sentence pronounced by Christ, it is 
necessary that it be rightly understood ; and that can only be 
done by considering the occasion of those words, as well as 
the words themselves. Christ wrought such miracles in the 
sight of his enemies, that when there was no room left for 
Matt. xii. any other cavil, they betook themselves to that, that ^ he did 
24,31. not cast out devils but by Beelzebub, the prince of devils.' 
And this was the occasion that led our Saviour to speak of 
the sin or blasphemy against the Holy Ghost. It was their 
rejecting the clearest evidence that God could give to prove 
any thing by : the power by which those miracles were wrought, 
and which was afterwards communicated to the apostles, is 
called through the whole New Testament, the Holy Ghost. 
By which is not to be meant here the third person of the 
Trinity, but the wonderful effusion of those extraordinary 
gifts and powers that were then communicated, the economy 
and dispensation of which is said to be derived from that one 
Spirit. This was the utmost proof that could be given of 
truth: and when men set themselves to blaspheme this, and 
to ascribe the works of Christ to a collusion with the Devil, 
they did thereby so wilfully oppose God, and reproach his 
power, they did so stifle their own conviction, and set them- 
selves against the conviction of others, that nothing could be 
done further for their conviction ; this being the highest de- 
gree of evidence and proof : and this was so high an indignity 
to God, when he descended so far to satisfy their scruples, that 
it was not to be pardoned ; as their impenitence and incredu- 
lity was so obstinate as not to be overcome. 

Upon this occasion given, our Saviour makes a difference 
between their blaspheming him, and, instead of owning him 
to be the Messias, calling him a deceiver, a glutton, and a 
wine-bibber ; of which, upon hearing his doctrine, and seeing 
his life, they were still guilty. This was indeed a great sin, 
but yet there were means left of convincing them of the truth 
of his being the great prophet sent of God ; and by these they 
might be so far prevailed on as to repent and believe, and so 
to obtain pardon : but when they had those means set before 
them ; when they saw plain and uncontested miracles done 
before them ; and when, instead of yielding to them, they set 
up such an opposition to them, which might have been as 
reasonably said of every miracle that could have been wrought, 
then it was not possible to convince them. This is an im- 
pious rejecting of the highest method that God himself uses 
for proving a thing to us. The scorn put upon it, as it flows 
from a nature so depraved, that it cannot be \^Tought on, so 



THE XXXIX ARTICLES. 



189 



it is a sin not to be pardoned. All things of extreme severity A R T 

in a doctrine that is so full of grace and mercy as the gospel 

is^ ought to be restrained as much as may be. From thence 

we infer^ that those dreadful words of our Saviour^s ought to 

be restrained to the subject to which they are applied, and 

ought not to be carried further. Since miracles have ceased, 

no man is any more capable of this sin. 

These terms being thus explained, the question in the Arti- 
cle is now to be explained. There are words in St. J ohn's 
Epistle, and elsewhere, that seem to import, that men born of 
God, that is to say, baptized or regenerated Christians, sin i John ii 
not: ^Whosoever abide th in him, sinneth not: Whosoever 9. y. i 
sinneth hath not seen him, neither known him: Whoso- 
ever is born of God doth not commit sin, for his seed re- 
maineth in him ; and he cannot sin, for he is born of God.' 
This is again repeated in the end of that Epistle, together with 
these words, ^ He that is begotten of God keepeth himself, 
and that wicked one toucheth him not.' As these words seem 
to import that a true Christian sins not, so in the Epistle to 
the Hebrews it is said to be 'impossible to renew again, by Heb. vi.^ 
repentance, those who faU away, after they had been once 5, 6. 
^hhghtened, and had tasted of the heavenly gift, had been 
jnade partakers of the Holy Ghost, and had tasted the good 
word of Godj and the powers of the world to come.' Upon 
these expressions, and some others, though not quite of their 
force, it was, that in the primitive church, some that fell after 
baptism were cast out of the communion of the church ; and 
though they were not cut off from all hopes of the mercy of 
(jod, yet they were never restored to the peace of the church ; 
tjiis was done in TertuUian's time, if what he says on this sub- 
ject is not to be reckoned as a piece of his Montanism. 

But soon after there were great contests upon this head, 
while the Novatians withdrew from the communion of the 
church, and believed it was defiled by the receiving of apos- 
tates into it : though that was not done so easily as some pro- 
posed, but after a long separation and a severe course of pe- 
nance. Upon this followed all those penitentiary canons con- 
cerning the several measures and degrees of penance, and that 
not only for acts of apostacy from the Christian religion, but 
for all other crying sins. According to what has been already 
^aid upon the former Articles, it has appeared, that the sancti- 
fication of regenerated men is not so perfected in this life, but 
that there is still a mixture of defects and imperfections left in 
them : and the state of the new covenant is a continuance of 
repentance and remission of sins ; for as oft as one sins, if he 
repents truly of it, and forsakes his sins, there is a standing 
offer of the pardon of all sins ; and therefore Christ has taught 
us to pray daily, ' Forgive us our sins.' If there were but one 
general pardon offered in baptism, this would signify little to 
those who feel their infirmities, and the sins that do so easily 



190 



aiJPlBXPOSITION 0»T 



A R T: beset them, so apt to ret\M" upofV thenli It wariibf#d^0|5 
if the entertaining this conceit brought in a superstitious error 
A .IV in practice among the ancient Christians, of delaying baptism 
till death; as hoping that all sins were then certainly par- 
doned ; a much more dangerous error than even the fatal one 
io'/i.mi :i of trusting to a death-bed repentance. For baptism might 
j;i ,1 . have been more easily compassed ; and there was more offered 
in the way of argument for building upon it, than has been 
.V nrfoi : oflfered at for a death-bed repentance. -^imi^aqd. 

»- St. Peter's denial, his repentance, and his being restored to 
his apostolical dignity, seem to be recorded, partly on this ac-^ 

,€iri/.ffi . count, to encourage us, even after the most heinous offences, 
ta return to God, and never to reckon our condition despe- 
rate, were our sins ever so many, but as we find our hearts 
hardened in them into an obstinate impenitency. Our Saviour 
has made our pardoning the offences that others commit against 
us, the measure upon which we may expect pardon from God ; 
and he being asked what limits he set to the number of the^ 
faults that we were bound to pardon, by the day, if seven - 
was not enough, he carried it up to seventy times seveiiy a vast? 
number, far beyond the number of offences that any man will ^ 
in all probabihty commit against another in a day. But if 
they should grow up to all that vast number of four hundred : 

Luke xvii. and ninety, yet if our brother still ^ turns again and repents,' 

^* we are still bound to forgive. Now since this is joined with 

) what he declared, that if we pardoned our brother his offences, ' 

Mait.xviii. ^ our hcavcnly Father would also forgive us,' then we may de- ^ 
pend upon this, that according to the sincerity of our repent-^ i 
ance, our sins are always forgiven. us. And if this is the naturei 
of the new covenant, then the churdi,;which is a society formed^ 
upon it, must cproportion the rules both of her communion and) 
censure to iJiose set in the gospel : a heinous sin must give us 
a deeper sorrow, and higher degrees of repentance; scandals 
must also be taken off and forgiven, when the offending per-^ r 
sons have repaired the offence that was given by them, with 5 
suitable degrees of sorrow. St. Paul, in the beginnings of 3 
Christianity,in which it, being yet tender and not well known.x 
tocthe world, ivas more apt to be both blemished and cor^b 
rapted, did yet order the Corinthians to receive back into their 1 
communionrthe incestuous person, whom by his own directions^ 

1 Cor. V.5. they had / delivered ±0 Satan ;' they had excommunicated him, i 

and, by way of reverse to the gifts of the Holy Ghost pouredi 
out upon all Christians^ he was possessed or haunted with an ^ 
evil spirit : and yet, as St. Paul declares that he forgave himyi 
so he orders them to forgive him likewise; and he gives a;i 
reason for this conduct^ from the common principles of pit^n 

2 Cor. u. 7. and humanity, lest he should be swallowed up by overmuch r 

sorrow.^ What is in that place mentioned only in a particular 
instance, is extended to a general rule in the Epistle to the , 
Galatian&t 'Sii any one is overtakenin a_fault, ye whick^Lrej 



THE XXXIX ARTICLES. 



mi 



spiritual restore such a one in the spirifc of meekness, con- A R.T. 
sidering thyself, lest thou also be tempted.' Where both the 
supposition that is made, and the reason that is given, do Gal. vi. l. 
plainly insinuate that all men are subject to their several infir- 
mities ; so that every man may be overtaken in faults. The 
charge given to Timothy and Titus to ^ rebuke and exhort/ 2 Tim.iv.2. 
does suppose that Cln*istians, and even bishops and deacon^ T'*- 
were subject to faults that might deserve correction, r aii j m 

In that passage, cited out of St. J ohn's Epistle, as mention i john v. 
is made of a ^ sin unto deatlV for which they were not to 16. 
prai/, so mention is made both there and in St. Jameses 
Epistle of ^ sins for which they were to pray,^ and which upon Jam. v. 15, 
their prayers were to be forgiven. All which places do not 
only express this to be the tenor of the new covenant, that 
the sins of regenerated persons were to be pardoned in it, but 
they are also clear precedents and rules for the churches to 
follow them in their discipline. And therefore those words 
in St. John, that ^ a man born of God doth not and cannot 
sin, must be understood in a larger sense, of their not living 
in the practice of known sins ; of their not allowing them- 
selves in that course of life, nor going on deliberately with it. 

By the ^ sin unto death,^ is meant the same thing with that ? 
apostasy mentioned in the 6th of the Hebrews. Among the ^ 
J ews some sins were punished by a total excision or cutting ; Jivx aiuJ 
off, and this probably gave the rise to that designation of a 
' sin unto death/ The words in the Epistle to the Hebrews lleb. vi. 6. 
do plainly import those who, being not only baptized, but 
having also received a share of the extraordinary effusion of 
the Holy Ghost, had totally renounced the Christian religion^ ^ 
and apostatized from the faith, which ^was a crucifying of 
Christ anew.^ Such apostates to Judaism were thereby in- 
volved in the crime and guilt of the crucifying of Christ, and 
^ the putting him to open shame.^ Now persons so apostatiz- 
ing could not be renewed again by repentance, it not being 
possible to do any thing toward their conviction that had not 
been already done; and they, hardening themselves against 
all that was offered for their conviction, were arrived at such a 
degree in wickedness, that it was impossible to work upon ' 
them; there was^^ nothing left to be tried that had not been 
already tried, and proved to be ineffectual. Yet it is to be ob- 
served, that it was an unjustifiable piece of rigour, to apply e.v.roO f 
these words to all such as had fallen in a time of trial and 
persecution ; for as they had not those miraculous means, of i 
conviction, which must be acknowledged to be the strongest, - 
the sensiblest, and the most easily apprehended, of all argu- 
ments ; so they could not sin so heinously as those had done, 
who, after what they had seen and felt, revolted from the faith. t.ii^ioO <? 

Great difiference is also to be made betw^een a dehberate 
sin, that a man goes into upon choice, and in which he con^ 
tinues; and a sin, that the fears of death and the infirmities 



192 



AN EXPOSITION OF 



A R T. of human nature betray him into^ and out of which he quickly 
\ recovers himself^ and for which he mourns bitterly. There 

was no reason to apply what is said in the New Testament 
against the wicked apostates of that time^ to those who were 
overcome in the persecution. The latter sinned grievously ; 
yet it was not in the same kind^ nor are they in any sort to 
be compared to the former. All affectations of excessive 
severity look like pharisaical hypocrisy; whereas the Spirit of 
Christy which is made up of humility and charity^ will make 
us look so severely to ourselves^ that on that very account 
we will be gentle even to the failings of others. 

Yet^ on the other hand^ the church ought to endeavour to 
conform herself so far to her Head^ and to his doctrine^ as to 
2Thess.iii. ^note those who obey not the gospel^ and to have no com- 
6, 14, 15. pany with them, that they may be ashamed ; yet not so as to 
hate such a one, or count him as an enemy, but to admonish 
him as a brother.' Into what neglect or prostitution soever 
any church may have fallen in this great point of separating 
oiFenders, of making them ashamed, and of keeping others 
from being corrupted with their iU example and bad influence, 
that must be confessed to be a very great defect and blemish. 
The church of Rome had slackened all the ancient rules of 
discipUne, and had perverted this matter in a most scandalous 
manner ; and the world is now sunk into so much corruption, 
and to such a contempt of holy things, that it is much more 
easy here to find matter for lamentation, than to see how to 
remedy or correct it. 



THE XXXIX ARTICLES. 193 

.oifif mrd Yjii:i3(i msjlm nsmx/d 'io T 5f 
'iN rioii >HaTO/i[ 8W ■ '^R,!' 

^\ ARTICLE XVIL ^« 



XVII. 



Of Predestination and Election.' '•'^^ 

i9vet(f£;ttnattou to life t\)t ebeilai^tmg piirposic of (J^otr, U)T;mI)i) 
(before tljc fotmtJationsS of tl)c OTorltJ bcrc lai'ti) ije Jatlj fon^ 
^tantlp Uecreetf hv iji^ Couns'd, ^ccrtt to ti^, to "dtlibcr from cm^t 
antf tfamnation, t!)0£Jc lufiom ije IjatJ) djos'm iii €l)vkt out of 
maufemU, antr to bring; tijcm few Ci>r{st unto ebcrlaslting; ^alba^ 
tiott a;g bc^^el^ matJc to i;ouour. MEijtrcforc ti)tv hxi)\ci) be txiGmtS 
i3)it\) ^0 evfelleut a benefit of (J^oti, be callelJ acfortimg to ^oti*^ 
purpose, bi) Spirit biorlkmg in tJue j^casion. Cljei) tljrougf; 
grace obey t\)t calling, ti)w be jui^tifieU freely, t\)w be matie ^onsJ 
of <©otf b» ^option, ii)tv be matie lifee tfje image of i)x^ onlv 
begotten ^on ^eslui^ €l)vi^t: Cfje» imVk religtou^Ip in gooU 
ioorfe^, antf at lengtlj by <^otJ*^ mercp tf)W attain to eberlasting 
f elicit!) . 

^£1 t^e gotdw conigitferation of ^Bretse^tination mxis otir Election in 
€l)xkt full of sloeet, pleasant, antJ unslpeafeable comfort to 
QoHlv persons!, unQ ^ud) aig feel in tljemslelbe^ tlje loorlking of ti)c 
Spirit of C][)ri^t, mortifying tlje feorfesJ of tl;e dTle^lj, antr tl^eir 
eartl;li) members;, miti tlraluing tip tl)eir minti to l)igl) anU Ijea^ 
benly tl)ing^, a^ loell becausle it trotl; greatli) e^tablisilj nnH con;^ 
tivm t\)m dfaitlj of eternal ^albation to be enjopetr tl;rouglj 
Cljrisit, a£{ becaiisie it tfot^ ferbentlu feintsle tljeir lobe toioarUsl 
(^05 : ^0 for curious antl carnal perslon^, lacking tlje Spirit of 
Cl)ri!gt, to l;abe continualli) before tljeir lEwesi tlje Sentence of 
^otJ^il ^.BfetJesJtination, a most tfangerouig tsobnfall, loljerebw 
tl)e 33ebil t(otl; tl;ru!^t tljem eitl;er into tiej^peration, or into ioretcl;^ 
le^^nesi^ of mosit unclean libing, no less; perilous! tljan tfesipe- 
ration. 

;irurtl)ermore, mn^t receibe (J^oti'sJ promi^^e^ in sluclj lui^e, a^ 
ti)m be generally slet fortlj to us; in i)Q\v Scripture: ^nti in our 
troing;^, tljat Will of <&oti k to be folloluetr, Iol;icl) loe l)abe 
e)ipre^s;li) tJeclareU unto u^ in tlje MorU of <SotJ. 

There are many things in several of tlie other Articles which 
depend upon this ; and therefore I will explain it more fully : 
for as this has given occasion to one of the longest, the sub- 
tilest, and indeed the most intricate, of all the questions in 
divinity ; so it will be necessary to open and examine it as 
fully as the importance and difficulties of it do require. In 
treating of it, I shall, 

First, State the question, together with the consequences, 
that arise out of it. 

o 



194 



AN EXPOSITION OF 



Secondly^ Give an account of the differences that have arisen 
upon it. 5Ti/>1niro^ ibrfi rns\hA 

Thirdly, I shall set out the strength of the opinions of 
the contending parties, with aU possible impartiality and ex- 
actness. 

Fourthly, I shall shew how far they agree, and how far they 
differ; and shall shew what reason there is for bearing with 
one another's opinions in these matters ; and in the 

Fifth and last place, I shall consider how far we of this 
church are determined by this Article, and how far we are.^ 
liberty to follow any of those different opinions. qJ. 

The whole controversy may be reduced to this single point 
as its head and source : Upon what views did God form his 
purposes and decrees concerning mankind ? Whether he did 
it merely upon a design of advancing his own glory, and for 
manifesting his own attributes, in order to which he settled 
the great and universal scheme of his whole creation and pro- 
vidence? Or whether he considered all the free motions of 
those rational agents that he did intend to create, and accord^ 
ing to what he foresaw they Avould choose and do, in all the 
various circumstances in which he might put them, formed 
his decrees ? Here the controversy begins : and when this 
is settled, the three main questions that arise out of it will be 
soon determined. 

The first is, whether both God and Christ intended that 
Christ should only die for that particular number whom God 
intended to save ? Or whether it was intended that he should 
die for all, so that every man that would, might have the be- 
nefit of his death, and that no man was excluded froni it> bul 
because he willingly rejected it ? i '^amQSBio} 

The second is, Whether those assistances, that God gives 
to men to enable them to obey him, are of their own nature 
so efficacious and irresistible, that they never fail of producing 
the effect for which they are given? Or whether they are 
only sufficient to enable a man to obey God ; so that their 
efficacy comes from the freedom of the will, that either may 
co-operate with them, or may not, as it pleases ? 

The third is. Whether such persons do, and must certainly 
persevere to whom such grace is given ? Or, whether they 
may not fall away both entirely and finally from that state ? 

There are also other questions concerning the true notion 
of liberty, concerning the feebleness of our powers in this 
lapsed state, with several lesser ones ; all which do necessarily 
take their determination from the decision of the first and 
main question ; about which there are four opinions. 

The first is of those commonly called Supralapsarians, who 
think that God does only consider his own glory in all that he 
does : and that whatever is done arises, as from its first cause, 
from the decree of God : that in this decree God, considering 
only the manifestation of his own glory, intended to make the 



THE XXXIX ARTICLES. 



195 



world, to put a race of men in it, to constitute them under A R T. 
Adam as their fountain and head : that he decreed Adam^s 
sin, the lapse of his posterity, and Christ's death, together 
with the salvation or damnation of such men as should be 
most for his own glory : that to those who were to be saved 
he decreed to give such efficacious assistances, as should cer- 
tainly put them in the way of salvation ; and to those whom 
he rejected he decreed to give such assistances and means 
only as should render them inexcusable : that all men do con- 
tinue in a state of grace, or of sin, and shall be saved or 
damned, according to that first decree : so that God views 
himself only, and in that view he designs aU things singly for 
his own glory, and for the manifesting of his own attributes. 

The second opinion is of those called the Sublapsarians, 
who say, that Adam having sinned freely, and his sin being 
imputed to all his posterity, God did consider mankind, thus 
lost, with an eye of pity ; and, having designed to rescue a 
great number out of this lost state, he decreed to send his 
Son to die for them, to accept of his death on their account, 
and to give them such assistances as should be effectual both 
to convert them to him, and to make them persevere to the 
end : but for the rest, he framed no positive act about them, 
only he left them in that lapsed state, without intending that 
they should have the benefit of Christ's death, or of efficacious 
and persevering assistances. 

The third opinion is of those who are called Remonstrants^ 
Arminians,* or Universalists, who think that God intended to 
create all men free, and to deal with them according to the 
use that they should make of their liberty : that therefore he, 
foreseeing how every one would use it, did, upon that, decree 
all things that concerned them in this life, together with their 
salvation and damnation in the next : that Christ died for all 
men ; that sufficient assistances are given to every man, but 
that all men may choose whether they will use them, and per- 
severe in them, or not. 

The fourth opinion is of the Socinians,t who deny the cer- 
tain prescience of future contingencies ; and therefore they 
think the decrees of God from all eternity were only general ; 
that such as believe and obey the gospel shall be saved, and 
that such as live and die in sin shall be damned : but that 
there were no special decrees made concerning particular per- 
sons, these being only made in time, according to the state in 
which they are : they do also think that man is by nature so 
free and so entire, that he needs no inward grace ; so they 
deny a special predestination from all eternity, and do also 
denv inward assistances. 

T^his is a controversy that arises out of natural religion : for 
if it is believed that God governs the world, and that the wills 

* See note, p. 202. 
f For an account of the heresy of Socinus, see note, 60. 

o'2 



196 



AN EXPOSITION OF 



ART. of men are free ; then it is natural to inquire which of these is 
subject to the other, or how they can be both maintained ? 
~ whether God determines the will ? or if his Providence follows 
the motions of the Avill ? Therefore all those that believed a 
Providence have been aware of this difficulty. The Stoics put 
all things under a fate ; even the gods themselves : if this fate 
was a necessary series of things, a chain of matter and motion 
that was fixed and unalterable, then it was plain and down- 
right atheism. The Epicureans set all things at liberty, and 
either thought that there was no God, or at least that there 
was no Providence. The philosophers knew not how to avoid 
this difficulty, hy which we see Tully and others were so differ- 
ently moved, that it is plain they despaired of getting out of 
Joseph. it. The Jews had the same question among them ; for they 
Hb xvir^c ^^^^^ ^^^^ believe their law, without acknowledging a Provi- 
i_ldeBell* ^^iice : and yet the Sadducees among them asserted liberty in 
Jud. lib. ii. so entire a manner, that they set it free from all restraints : on 
^' the other hand, the Essens put all things under an absolute 

fate : and the Pharisees took a middle way ; they asserted the 
freedom of the will, but thought that all things were governed 
by a Providence. There are also subtle disputes concerning 
this matter among the Mahometans, one sect asserting liberty, 
and another fate, which generally prevails among them. 

In the first ages of Christianity, the Gnostics fancied that the 
souls of men were of different ranks, and that they sprang from 
Jjen-^adv. different principles, or gods, who made them. Some were 
c.T sect! ^^^^'^i that were devoted to perdition; others were spiritual, 
11. and were certainly to be saved ; others were animal of a middle 
capable either of happiness or misery. It seems that 
cfem Al Marcionites and Manichees thought that some souls were 
Pad. lib. i. made by the bad god, as others were made by the good. In 
^ . opposition to all these, Origen asserted, that all soids were by 
arohor^"* mature equally capable of being either good or bad ; and that 
1. iii.Philo- the difference among men arose merely from the freedom of 
cal. c. 21. the will, and the various use of that freedom : that God left 
Ep'^ad' ^^^^ this liberty, and rewarded and punished them accord- 
Rom. i. vi. ing to the use of it ; yet he asserted a Providence : but as he 
brought in the Platonical doctrine of pre-existence into the 
government of the world ; and as he explained God^s loving 
Jacob, and his hating of Esau, before they were born, and had 
done either good or evil, by this of a regard to what they had 
done formerly ; so he asserted the fall of man in Adam, and 
his being recovered by grace ; but he still maintained an un- 
restrained liberty in the will. His doctrine, though much 
hated in Egypt, w^as generally followed over all the east, par- 
ticularly in Palestine and at Antioch. St. Gregory Nazianzen 
and St. Basil drew a system of divinity out of his works, in 
which that which relates to the liberty of the will is very fully 
Orig. Phi- set forth : that book was much studied in the east. Chrysos- 
local, tom, Isidore of Damiete, and Theodoret, with all their followers. 



THE XXXIX ARTICLES. 



197 



taught it so copiously, that it became the received doctrine of A R r. 
the eastern church. Jerome was so much in love \^dth Origen, 
that he translated some parts of him, and set Ruffin on trans- 
lating the rest. But as he had a sharp quarrel with the bi- 
shops of Palestine, so that perhaps disposed him to change his 
thoughts of Origen : for ever after that, he set himself much 
to disgrace his doctrine ; and he was very severe on Ruffin for 
translating him : though Ruffin confesses, that, in translating Ruffin. 
his works, he took great liberties hi altering several passages y^J^"'^!^"^ 
that he disliked. One of Origen's disciples was Pelagius, a Orig." in 
Scottish monk, in great esteem at Rome, both for his learning Kp. ad. 
and the great strictness of his life. He carried these doctrines ^ 
further than the Greek church had done; so that he was4.a"d" 
reckoned to have fallen into great errors both by Chrysostom oiymp. 
and Isidore (as it is represented by Jansenius, though that is {'^J'^'^^ ^' 
denied by others, who think they meant another of the same 514. ^' 
name). He denied that we had suffered any harm by the fall 
of Adam, or that there was any need of inward assistances ; ' "^""J 
and he asserted an entire liberty in the wiU. St. Austin, 
though in his disputes with the Manichees he had said many 
things on the side of liberty, yet he hated Pelagius's doctrine, 
which he thought asserted a sacrilegious liberty, and he set 
himself to beat down his tenets, which had been but feebly 
attacked by Jerome. Cassian, a disciple of St. Chrysostom^s, 
came to Marseilles about this time, having left Constantinople 
perhaps when his master was banished out of it. He taught 
a middle doctrine, asserting an inward grace, but subject to 
the freedom of the will ; and that all things were both decreed 
and done, according to the prescience of God, in which all 
future contingents were foreseen : he also taiight, that the 
first conversion of the soul to God was merely an effect of its 
free choice ; so that all preventing grace was denied by him ; 
which came to be the peculiar distinction of those who were 
afterwards called the Semipelagians. Prosper and Hilary gave 
an account of this system to St. Austin, upon which he writ 
against it, and his opinions were defended by Prosper, Ful- 
gentius, Orosius, and others, as Cassian^s were defended by 
Faustus, Vincentius, and Gennadius. In conclusion, St. Aus- 
tin's opinions did generally prevail in the west ; only Pelagius, 
it seems, retiring to his own country, he had many followers 
among the Britains : but German and Lupus, being sent over 
once and again from France, are said to have conquered them 
so entirely, that they were ah freed from those errors : what- 
ever they did by their arguments, the writers of their legends 
took care to adorn their mission with many very wonderful mi- 
racles, of which the gathering all the pieces of a calf, some of 
which had been dressed, and the putting them together in its 
skin, and restoring it again to life, is none of the least. The 
ruin of the Roman empire, and the disorders that the western 
provinces fell under by their new and ]>arbarous masters, occa- 



198; 



AN EXPOSITION OF i 



A R T. sioned in those ages a great decay of learning : so that few 
XVII. writers of fame coming after that time, St. Austin^s great 
labours and piety, and the many vast volumes that he had left; 
behind him, gave him so great a name, that fcAV durst contes;!^ 
what had been so zealously and so copiously defended by 
him : and though it is highly probable, that Celestine was not 
satisfied with his doctrine ; yet both he and the other bishops 
of Rome, together with many provincial synods, have so often 
declared his doctrine in those points to be the doctrine of the 
church, that this is very hardly got over by those of that cp««).;t* 
munion. r-, r,-. 

The chief, and indeed the only material, difference that is 
between St. Austin^s doctrine and that of the Sublapsarians 
is, that he, holding that with the sacrament of baptism there 
was joined an inward regeneration, made a difference between 
the regenerate and the 'predestinate^ which these do not : he 
thought persons thus regenerate might have all grace, besides 
that of perseverance ; but he thought that they, not being 
predestinated, were certainly to faU from that state, and fronj] , 
the grace of regeneration. The other differences are buti? 
forced strains to represent him and the Calvinists as of differ- 
ent principles : he thought, that overcoming delectation, in 
which he put the efficacy of grace, was as irresistible, though 
he used not so strong a word for it as the Calvinists do ; and 
he thought that the decree was as absolute, and made without 
any regard to what the free-will would choose, as any of these 
do. So in the main points, the absoluteness of the decree, 
the extent of Christ's death, the efficacy of grace, and the 
certainty of perseverance, their opinions are the same, though 
their ways of expressing themselves do often differ. But if 
St. Austin's name and the credit of his books went far, yet 
no book was more read in the following ages than Cassian's 
Collations. There was in them a clear thread of good sense, 
and a very high strain of piety that run through them ; and 
they were thought the best institutions for a monk to form 
his mind, by reading them attentively : so they still carried 
down, among those who read them, deep impressions of the 
doctrine of the Greek church. 

This broke out in the ninth century, in which Godescalcus, 
a monk, was severely used by Hincmar, and by the church of 
Rhemes, for asserting some of St. Austin's doctrines; against 
which Scotus Erigena wrote ; as Bertram, or Ratramne, wrote 
for them. Remigins, bishop of Lyons, with his church, did 
zealously assert St. Austin's doctrine, not without great 
sharpness against Scotus. After this, the matter slept, till 
the school-divinity came to be in great credit : and Thomas 
Aquinas being accounted the chief glory of the Dominican 
order, he not only asserted all St. Austin's doctrine, but added 
this to it ; that whereas formerly it was in general held, that 
the providence of God did extend itself to all things whatso- 



THE XXXIX ARTICLES. 



199 



ever, he thought this was done by God's concurring imme- A R T. 
diately to the production of every thought^ action^ motion^ or 
mode ; so that God was the first and immediate cause of 
every thing that was done: and in order to the explaining the 
joint production of every thing by God as the first, and by 
the creature as the second cause, he thought, at least as his 
followers have understood him, that by a physical influence 
the will was predetermined by God to all things, whether good 
or bad ; so that the will could not be said to be free in that 
particular instance in sensu composito, though it was in gene- 
ral still free in all its actions in sensu diviso : a distinction so 
sacred, and so much used among them, that I choose to give 
it in their own terms, rather than translate them. To avoid 
the consequence of making God the author of sin, a distinc- 
tion was made between the positive act of sin, which was said 
not to be evil, and the want of its conformity to the law of 
God, which being a negation was no positive being, so that 
it was not produced. And thus, though the action was pro- 
duced jointly by God as the first cause, and by the creature 
as the second, yet God was not guilty of the sin, but only the 
creature. This doctrine passed down among the Dominicans, 
and continues to do so to this day. Scotus, who was a Fran- 
ciscan, denied this predetermination, and asserted the freedom 
of the will. Durandus denied this immediate concourse ; in 
which he has not had many followers, except Adola, and some 
few more. 

When Luther began to form his opinions into a body, he 
clearly saw, that nothing did so plainly destroy the doctrine 
of merit and justification by works, as St. Austin's opinions : 
he found also in his works very express authorities against 
most of the corruptions of the Roman church : and being of 
an order that carried his name, and by consequence was accus- 
tomed to read and reverence his works, it was no wonder if 
he, without a strict examining of the matter, espoused all his 
opinions. Most of those of the church of Rome who wrote 
against him, being of the other persuasions, any one reading 
the books of that age would have thought that St. Austin's 
doctrine was abandoned by the church of Rome: so that 
when Michael Baius, and some others at Louvain, began to 
revive it, that became a matter of scandal, and they were con- 
demned at Rome : yet at the council of Trent the Domini- 
cans had so much credit, that great care was taken, in the 
penning their decrees, to avoid all reflections upon that doc- 
trine. It was at first received by the whole Jesuit order, so 
that Bellarmine formed himself upon it, and still adhered to 
it : but soon after, that order changed their mind, and left 
their whole body to a full liberty in those points, and went 
all quickly over to the other hypothesis, that difi'ered from 
the Semipelagians only in this, that they allowed a preventing- 
grace, but such as was subject to the freedom of the will. 



200 



AN EXPOSITION OF 



A li'j'. Molina and Fonseca invented a new way of explaining 
God^s foreseeing future contingents-, which they called a mid- 
dle, or mean science ; by which they taught^ that as God sees 
all things as possible in his knowledge of shiiple apprehension, 
and aU things that are certainly future^ as present in his know- 
ledge of vision; so by this knowledge he also sees the chain 
of all conditionate futurities^ and all the connections of them, 
that is, whatsoever would follow upon such or such condi- 
tions. Great jealousies arising upon the progress that the 
order of the Jesuits was making, these opinions were laid 
hold on to mortify them ; so they were complained of at 
Rome for departing from St. Austin's doctrine, which in these 
points was generally received as the doctrine of the Latin 
church: and many conferences were held before pope Clement 
the Eighth, and the cardinals ; where the point in debate was 
chiefly^ What was the doctrine and tradition of the church? 
The advantages that St. Austin^s followers had were such, 
that before fair judges they must have triumphed over the 
other: pope Clement had so resolved; but he dying, though 
pope Paul the Fifth had the same intentions, yet he happen- 
ing then to be engaged in a quarrel with the Venetians about 
the ecclesiastical immunities, and having put that republic 
under an interdict, the Jesuits who were there chose to be 
banished, rather than to break the interdict: and their adher- 
ing so firmly to the papal authority, when most of the other 
orders forsook it, was thought so meritorious at Rome, that it 
saved ^:hem the censure: so, instead of a decision, all sides 
w^ere commanded to be silent, and to quarrel no more upoit® 
those heads. '^'"'^ 
About forty years after that, Jansenius,* a doctor of Lou- 

* Cornelius Jansenius, bishop of Ypres, a man of much learning and piety, flou- 
rished in the early part of the seventeenth century. He was the author of a cele- 
brated work, entitled ' Augustinus,' the publication of which, after his death, 
revived the controversy I'especting the nature and extent of grace, and disturbed 
the temporary calm into which the fierce contests between the Jesuits and Domi- 
nicans had, owing to the skilful management of Paul V., subsided, ' This cele- 
brated work,' writes Mosheim, ' which gave such a wound to the Romish church, as 
neither the power nor wisdom of the pontiffs will ever be able to heal, is divided 
into three parts. The first is historical, and contains a relation of the Pelagian 
controversy, which arose in the fifth century. In the second, we find an accurate 
account and illustration of the doctrine of Augustin, relating to the constitution 
and powers of the human nature, in its original, fallen, and renewed state. The 
third contains the doctrine of the same great man, relating to the aids of sancti- 
fying grace, procured by Christ, and to the eternal predestination of men and 
angels.' 

The publication of this work was so detrimental to the cause of the Jesuits, by 
placing them in direct opposition to Augustin, that they left no means untried to 
procure the condemnation of it by the papal see. In this they succeeded by, in 
the first place, having the perusal of it prohibited by the Rom.an inquisitors, and in 
the next place by inducing Urban VIII. to issue a bull against it as a work infected 
with errors. This condemnation was, however, very far from reaching the end 
proposed — the overthrow of the system of Divine truth propounded in Jansenius's 
woi'k ; and many distinguished men (amongst them the doctors of Louvain) set at 
nought the papal bull by openly espousing the cause of Jansenius. Each party con- 
tinued to defend their peculiar tenets with much zeal and no small degree of 
sophistry, by means of which the followers of Jansenius contrived to evade the fury 



THE XXXIX ARTICLES. 



201 



vain, being a zealous disciple of St. Austin's^ and seeing the A R T. 
progress that the contrary doctrines were making, did, with 
great industry, and an equal fidelity, publish a voluminous 
system of St. Austin^s doctrine in aU the several branches of 
the controversy : and he set forth the Pelagians and the 
Semipelagians in that work under very black characters ; and^ 
not content with that^ he compared the doctrines of the mo- - 
dern innovators with theirs. This book was received by the^ 
whole party with great applause^ as a work that had decided ' 
the controversy. But the author having wTit mth an extra- 
ordinary force against the French pretensions on Flanders^ 
which recommended him so much to the Spanish court, that 
he was made a bishop upon it: all those in France who fol- ^ 
lowed St. Austin's doctrine, and applauded this book, were 
represented by their enemies as being in the same interests 
with him, and by consequence as enemies to the French great- 
ness ; so that the court of France prosecuted the whole party. 
This book was at first only prohibited at Rome, as a violation ■ 
of that silence that the pope had enjoined ; afte^v^^ards articles 
were j)icked out of it, and condemned, and all the clergy of 
France were required to sign the condemnation of them. 



of the Jesuits, who were the more powerful party, and who scrupled not to have 
recourse to their familiar weapons, ' even the secular arm, and a competent number 
of dragoons.' The Jansenists endeavoured to establish the truth of their system 
by an appeal to miracles; and must have triumphed over their opponents, were it 
not that at that time the papacy was deeply interested in keeping- itself apart from 
the truth laid down by Augustin, and which had been wielded with such force 
against it by Luther, and his followers. Accordingly, on the 31st of May, 1653, 
Innocent X., turning a deaf ear to the numerous entreaties of a large body of the 
clergy to suspend his decision, condemned by a bull these five propositions, ex- 
tracted by his opponents from the book of Jansenius : — ' 1st. That there are di\-ine 
precepts which good men, notwithstanding their desire to observe them, are, 
nevertheless, absolutely unable to obey ; nor has God given them that measure of 

grace that is essentially necessary to render them capable of such obedience 

2d. That no person, in his corrupt state of nature, can resist the influence of divine 
grace, when it operates upon the mind. — 3d. That in order to render human actions 
meritorious, it is not requisite that they be exempt from necessity, but only that 
they be free from constraint. — 4th. That the Semipelagians err grievously in 
maintaining that the human will is endowed with the power of either receiving or 
resisting the aids and influences of preventing gi-ace. — 5th. That whosoever affirms 
that Jesus Christ made expiations, by his suff'erings and death, for the sins of all man- 
kind, is a Semipelagian.' The four first of these propositions were declared heretical, 
the ^fth rash, impious, and injurious to the Supreme Being. An ingenious devices- 
was then set up, by means of which the Jansenists contrived, notwithstanding the 
pope's bull, to maintain their opinions, and yet remain within the pale of the papal .' 
church. This was by subscribing to the correctness of the pope's decision respecting 
these propositions ; which was the questio dejure. The other, by denying that these 
propositions were in the book of Jansenius, on the ground that the pope had not 
declared himself in this point ; this was the questio de facto. Alexander VII. put 
an end to this distinction by, in the year 1656, issuing a bull, in which it was posi- 
tively declared, that the five propositions were the tenets of Jansenius, and were to 
be found in his book. 

After this the Jesuits set upon their opponents with such fury and persecution, 
that those who refused to comply with the papal decree were cast into prison, or 
banished; others escaped by flight, and many took refuge under the wing of the 
Dutch government, and were thus enabled to smile at the storm, and defy the per- 
secuting fury of the papal see. — [Ed.] 



202 



AN EXPOSITION OF 



ART. These articles were certainly in his book, and were manifest 
consequences of St. Austin's doctrine, which was chiefly driven 
at; though it was still declared at Rome, that nothing was in- 
tended to be done in prejudice of St. Austin^s doctrine. Upon 
this pretence his party have said, that those articles being 
capable of two senses, the one of which was strained, and 
was heretical, the other of which was clear, and according to 
St. Austin^s doctrine, it must be presumed it was not in that 
second, but in the other sense, that they were condemned at 
Rome, and so t?iey signed the condemnation of them : but 
then they said, that they were not in Jansenius^s book in the 
sense in which they condemned them. 

Upon that followed a most extravagant question concerning 
the pope^s infallibility in matters of fact : it being said on the 
one side, that the pope having condemned them as Jansenius^s 
opinions, the belief of his infallibility obliged them to conclude 
that they must be in his book : whereas the others with great 
truth affirmed, that it had never been thought that in matters 
of fact either popes or councils were infallible. At last a new 
cessation of hostilities upon these points was resolved on ; yet 
the hatred continues and the war goes on, though more co- 
vertly and more indirectly than before. 

Nor are the reformed more of a piece than the church of 
Rome upon these points. Luther went on long, as he at first 
set out, with so little disguise, that whereas all parties had 
always pretended that they asserted the freedom of the will, 
he plainly spoke out, and said the will was not free, but en- 
slaved : yet before he died, he is reported to have changed his 
mind ; for though he never owned that, yet Melancthon, who 
had been of the same opinion, did freely retract it ; for w^hich 
he was never blamed by Luther. Since that time all the Lu- 
therans have gone into the Semipelagian opinions so entirely 
and so eagerly, that they will neither tolerate nor hold com** • 
munion with any of the other persuasion. Calvin not only''' 
taught St. Austin's doctrine, but seemed to go on to the 
Supralapsarian way ; which was more openly taught by Beza, 
and was generally followed by the reformed ; only the differ^ ' ' 
ence between the Supralapsarians and the Sublapsarians was, ! 
never brought to a decision; divines being in all the Calvin^r 
ists^ churches left to their freedom as to that point. 

In England the first reformers were generally in the Sub- 
lapsarian hypothesis : but Perkins and others having asserted 
the Supralapsarian way, Arminius,* a professor in Leyden, 

* James Arminius, professor of divinity in the university of Leyden, was ' a man 
who joined to unquestionable piety and meekness of spirit, a clear and acute judg- 
ment ; and who had obtained no slight eminence by the talent with which he had 
extricated the doctrines of Christianity from the dry and technical mode in which 
they had hitherto been stated and discussed. His celebrity placed him in a situa- 
tion ill suited to his habits and temper. As a pupil of Beza, he had embraced the 
extreme views to which that divine had carried the tenets advocated by the power- 
ful pen of Calvin. It happened that one Coornhert had advanced some opinions, 



THE XXXIX ARTICLES. 



203 



writ against him : upon this Gomarus and he had many dis- ART. 
putes ; and these opinions bred a great distraction over all the 
United Provinces. At the same time another political matter 
occasioning a division of opinion, whether the war should be 
carried on ^\dth Spain, or if propositions for a peace or trace 
should be entertained ? it happened that Arminius's followers 
were all for a peace, and the others were generally for carrying 
on the war ; which being promoted by the prince of Orange, 
he joined to them : and the Arminians were represented as 
men, whose opinions and affections leaned to popery : so that 
this, from being a doctrinal point, became the distinction of a 
party, and by that means the differences were inflamed. A 



which, if not loose in themselves, were, at least, expressed in a very unguarded way. 
The ministers of Delft published a reply : in which the moderate and generally 
received Sublapsarian hypothesis was sustained ; which gave little less offence to 
the high Calvinists than did the heterodox language of Coornhert. Arminius, 
therefore, as the most talented divine of the day, was applied to, in order to take 
up the pen, on both sides. On the one hand, his friend Martin Lydius, solicited 
him to vindicate the Supralapsarian views of his former tutor, Beza, against the 
reply of the ministers ; and, on the other, he was invited by the synod of Amster- 
dam, to defend this same reply against Coornhert. Placed in this remarkable 
situation, Arminius felt compelled to enter into an examination of the whole ques- 
tion, and was induced to change his sentiments, and to adopt that view of the 
Divine dispensations which now bears his name.' — Allport. 

The sentiments of the Arminians, or Remonstrants, concerning the questions 
of predestination and grace, were comprehended in five articles, generally denomi- 
nated the five points, and which have been the subject of much discussion in our own 
church. They are — 1st. 'That God, from all eternity, determined to bestow salvation 
on those whom he foresaw would persevere unto the end in their faith in Christ 
Jesus ; and to inflict everlasting punishment on those who should continue in their 
unbelief, and resist unto the end his Divine succours. 

' 2d. That Jesus Christ, by his death and sufferings, made an atonement for the 
sins of all mankind in general, and of every individual in particular ; — that, how- 
ever, none but those who believe in him can be partakers of this divine benefit. 

' 3d. That true faith cannot proceed from the exercise of our natural faculties and 
powers, nor from the force and operation of free-will; since man, in consequence of 
his natural corruption, is incapable either of thinking or of doing any good thing ; 
and that therefore it is necessary, to his conversion and salvation, that he be rege- 
nerated and renewed by the operation of the Holy Ghost, which is the gift of God 
through Jesus Christ. 

* 4th. That this Divine grace, or energy of the Holy Ghost, which heals the dis- 
order of a corrupt nature, begins, advances, and brings to perfection, every thing 
that can be called good in man; and that, consequently, all good works, without 
exception, are to be attributed to God alone, and to the operation of his grace : 
that, nevertheless, this grace does not force the man to act against his inclination, 
but may be resisted and rendered ineffectual by the perverse will of the impenitent 
sinner. 

' 5th. That they who are united to Christ by faith are thereby furnished with 
abundant strength, and with succours sufficient to enable them to triumph over the 
seductions of Satan, and the allurements of sin and temptation ; but that the ques- 
tion, ' Whether such may fall from their faith, and perfect finally this state of 
grace ?' has not been yet resolved with sufficient perspicuity ; and must, therefore, 
be yet more carefully examined by an attentive study of what the Holy Scriptures 
have declared in relation to this important point. " It is to be observed, that this 
last article was afterwards changed by the Arminians, who, in process of time, de- 
clared their sentiments with less caution, and positively affirmed that the saints 
might fall from a state of grace." ' — Mosheim. 

The opinions of Arminius were condemned at the famous synod of Dort. Of 
the life of Arminius, and the proceedings of the synod of Dort, the reader will find 
a concise and interesting account in Allport's translation of Davenant on the 
Colossians. — [En.] 



204 



AN EXPOSITION OF 



ART. great synod met at Dort ; to which the divines were sent froin 
hence, as well as from other churches. The Arminian tenets 
were condemned ; but the difference between the Supralapsa- 
rians and Sublapsarians was not meddled with. The divines 
of this church, though very moderate in the way of proposing 
their opinions, yet upon the main adhered to St. Austin's 
doctrine. So the breach was formed in Holland : but when 
the point of state was no more mixed with it, these question^ 
were handled with less heat. .^o>^rf 
Those disputes quickly crossed the seas, and divided us : 
the abbots adhered to St. Austin's doctrine ; while bishop 
Overal, but chiefly archbishop Laud, espoused the Arminian 
tenets. All divines were by proclamation required not to 
preach upon those heads : but those that favoured the new 
opinions were encouraged, and the others were depressed. 
And unhappy disputes falling in at that time concerning the 
extent of the royal prerogative beyond law, the Arminians 
having declared themselves highly for that, they were as much 
favoured at court, as they were censured in the parliament : 
which brought that doctrine under a very hard character over 
all the nation. 

Twisse carried it high to the Supralapsarian hypothesis, 
which grcAV to be generally followed by those of that side : 
but that sounded harshly; and Hobbes grafting afterwards 
a fate and absolute necessity upon it, the other opinions were 
again revived ; and no political interests falling in with them, 
as all prejudices against them went off, so they were more 
calmly debated, and became more generally acceptable than 
they were before. Men are now left to their liberty in them, 
and all anger upon those heads is now so happily extinguished, 
that diversity of opinions about them begets no alienation nor 
animosity. 

So far have I prosecuted a short view of the history of this 
controversy. I come now to open the chief grounds of the 
different parties : and first, for the Supralapsarians. 

They lay this down for a foundation, that God is essentially 
perfect and independent in all his acts : so that he can con- 
sider nothing but himself and his own glory : that therefore 
he designed every thing in and for himself : that to make him 
stay his decrees till he sees what free creatures will do, is to 
make him decree dependency upon them ; wliich seems to 
fall short of infinite perfection : that he himself can be the 
only end of his counsels ; and that therefore he could only 
consider the manifestation of his own attributes and perfection; 
that infinite wisdom must begin its designs at that which is to 
come last in the execution of them ; and since the conclusion 
of all things at the last day will be the manifestation of the 
wisdom, goodness, and justice of God, we ought to suppose, 
that God, in the order of things designed that first, though in 
the order of time there is no first nor second in God, this 



THE XXXIX ARTICLES. 



265 



being supposed to be from all eternity. After this great de- ART. 
sign was laid^ all the means in order to the end were next to 
be designed. Creatures in the sight of God are as nothing, 
and, by a strong figure, are said to be less than nothing, and 
vanity. Now if we in our designs do not consider ants or 
insects, not to say straws, or grains of sand and dust, then what 
lofty thoughts soever our pride may suggest to us, we must 
be confessed to be very poor and inconsiderable creatures 
before God; therefore he himself and his own glory can only 
be his own end in all that he designs or does. 

This is the chief basis of their doctrine, and so ought to be 
iv^ell considered. They add to this, that there can be no cer- 
tain prescience of future contingents. They say it involves a 
contradiction, that things which are not certainly to be, should 
be certainly foreseen ; for if they are certainly foreseen, they 
must certainly be : so while they are supposed to be contin- 
gent, they are yet affirmed to be certain, by saying that they 
are certainly foreseen. When God decrees that any thing 
shall be, it has from that a certain futurition, and as such it is 
certainly foreseen by him : an uncertain foresight is an act of 
its nature imperfect, because it may be a mistake, and so is 
inconsistent with the divine perfection. And it seems to im- 
ply a contradiction to say that a thing happens freely, that is, 
may be, or may not be, and yet that it is certainly foreseen by 
God. God cannot foresee things, but as he decrees them, 
and so gives them a futurition, and, therefore, this prescience 
antecedent to his decree must be rejected as a thing impossible. 

They say further, that conditionate decrees are imperfect in 
their nature, and that they subject the will and acts of God to 
a creature : that a conditionate decree is an act in suspense, 
whether it shall be or not ; which is inconsistent with infinite 
perfection. A general will, or rather a willing that all men 
should be saved, has also plain characters of imperfection in 
it : as if God wished somewhat that he could not accomplish, 
so that his goodness should seem to be more extended than 
his power. Infinite perfection can wish nothing but what it 
can execute ; and if it is fit to wish it, it is fit also to execute 
it. Therefore all that style, that ascribes passions or affec- 
tions to God, must be understood in a figure ; so that when 
his providence exerts itself in such acts as among us men 
would be the effects of those passions, then the passions 
themselves are in the phrase of the scripture ascribed to God. 
They say we ought not to measure the punishments of sin by 
our notions of justice : God affiicts many good men very se- 
verely, and for many years in this life, and this only for the 
manifestation of his own glory, for makhig their faith and pa- 
tience to shine ; and yet none think that this is unjust. It is 
a method in which God will be glorified in them : some sins 
are punished with other sins, and likewise with a course of 
severe miseries : if we transfer this from time to eternity, the 



206 



AN EXPOSITION OF 



A R T. whole will be then more conceivable ; for if God may do for 
a little time that which is inconsistent with our notions^ and 
with our rules of justice^ he may do it for a longer duration; 
since it is as impossible that he can be unjust for a day, as 
for all eternity. 

As God does every thing for himself and his own glory, so 
the scriptures teach us every where to offer up all praise and 
glory to God; to acknowledge that all is of him, and to humble 
ourselves as being nothing before him. Now if we were 
elected not by a free act of his, but by w^hat he foresaw that 
we would be, so that his grace is not efficacious by its own 
force, but by the good use that we make of it, then the glory 
and praise of all the good we do, and of God's purposes to us, 
were due to ourselves : he designs, according to the other 
doctrine, equally well to all men ; and all the difference among 
them will arise neither from God's intentions to them, nor 
from his assistances, but from the good use that he foresaw 
they would make of these favours that he was to give in com- 
mon to all mankind : man should have whereof to glory, and 
he might say, that he himself made himself to differ from 
others. The whole strain of the scriptures in ascribing all 
good things to God, and in charging us to offer up the honour 
of all to him, seems very expressly to favour this doctrine ; 
since if all our good is from God, and is particularly owing to 
his grace, then good men have somewhat from God that bad 
men have not; for which they ought to praise him. The 
style of all the prayers that are used or directed to be used 
in the scripture, is for a grace that opens our eyes, that turns 
our hearts, that makes us to go, that leads us not into tempta- 
tion, but delivers us from evil. All these phrases do plainly 
import that we desire more than a power or capacity to act, 
such as is given to all men, and such as, after we have received 
it, may be still ineffectual to us. For to pray for such assist- 
ances as are always given to all men, and are such that th.3 
whole good of them shall wholly depend upon ourselves, would 
sound very oddly; whereas w^e pray for somewhat that is 
special, and that we hope shall be effectual. We do not and 
cannot pray earnestly for that, which we know all men as weH 
as we ourselves have at all times. ' ^1 -^wo 

Humility and earnestness in prayer seem to be among thi^ 
chief means of working in us the image of Christ, and of 
deriving to us all the blessings of heaven. That doctrine 
which blasts both, which swells us up with an opinion that all 
come > from ourselves, and that we receive nothing from God 
but what is given in common with us to all the w^orld, is 
certainly contrary both to the spirit and to the design of the 
gospel. 

To this they add observations from Providence. The world 
was for many ages delivered up to idolatry ; and since the 
Christian religion has appeared, we see vast tracts of coun- 



THE XXXIX ARTICLES. 



tries which have continued ever since in idolatry: others are A RT. 
fallen under Mahometanism ; and the state of Christendom ^^ ^^ 
is in the eastern parts of it under so much ignorance, and the 
greatest part of the west is under so much corruption, that 
we must confess the far greatest part of mankind has been in 
all ages left destitute of the means of grace, so that the pro- 
mulgating the gospel to some nations, and the denying it to 
others, must be ascribed to the unsearchable ways of God, 
that are past finding out. If he thus leaves whole nations 
in such darkness and corruption, and freely chooses others 
to communicate the knowledge of himself to them, then we 
need not wonder if he should hold the same method with in- 
dividuals, that he does with whole bodies : for the rejecting of 
whole nations by the lump for so many ages, is much more 
unaccountable than the selecting of a few, and the leaving 
others in that state of ignorance and brutality. And what- 
ever may be said of his extending mercy to some few of those 
who have made a good use of that dim light which they had ; 
yet it cannot be denied but their condition is much more de- 
plorable, and the condition of the others is much more hope- 
ful j so that great numbers of men are born in such circum- 
stances, that it is morally impossible that they should not 
perish in them ; whereas others are more happily situated and 
enlightened. 

b This argument taken from common observation becomes 
much stronger, when we consider what the apostle says, par^ 
ticularly in the Epistles to the Romans and the Ephesians, J^^m- ix. 
even according to the exposition of those of the other side: ^pj^ j 3__ 
for if God loved Jacob, so as to choose his posterity to be his q, 9— ii. 
people, and rejected or hated Esau and his posterity, and if 
that was according to the purpose and design of his election; 
if by the same purpose the Gentiles were to be grafted upon 
that stock, from which the Jews were then to be cut off ; and 
if the counsel or purpose of God had appeared in particular to 
those of Ephesus, though the most corrupted both in magic^ 
idolatry, and immorality, of any in the east ; then it is plain, 
that the applying the means of grace, arises merely from a 
great design that w^as long hid in God, which did then break 
out. It is reasonable to believe, that there is a proportion 
between the application of the means, and the decree itself 
concerning the end. The one is resolved into the unsearch- 
able riches of God^s grace, and declared to be free and abso- 
lute. God^s choosing the nation of the Jews in such a dis- 
tinction beyond all other nations, is by Moses and the pro- Deut. vii. 
phets frequently said not to be on their own account, or on ^ 
the account of any thing that God saw in them, but merely x.*i5~l6. 
from the goodness of God to them. From all this it seems, 
say they, as reasonable to believe that the other is likewise 
free, according to those words of our Saviour's, *^ I thank thee. Matt. xi. 
O Father. Lord of heaven and earth, because thou hast hid 25,26. 



208 



AN EXPOSITION OF 



ART. these things from the wise and prudent, and hast revealed 
them unto babes the reason of which is given in the follow- 
ing words, ^ Even so. Father, for it seemed good in thy sight.' 

21^23' ^^^^ S^^^ before, of Tyre and Sidon, and the land of Sodom, 
~ ■ that would have made a better use of his preaching, than the 
towns of Galilee had done, among whom he lived, confirms 
this, that the means of grace are not bestowed on those of 
whom it was foreseen that they would have made a good use 
of them ; or denied to those who, as was foreseen, would have 
made an ill use of them ; the contrary of this being plainly 
asserted in those words of our Saviour's. It is further ob- 
servable, that he seems not to be speaking here .of different 
nations, but of the different sorts of men of the same nation : 
the more learned of the Jews, the wise and prudent, rejected 
him, while the simpler, but better sort, the babes, received 
him : so that the difference between individual persons seems 
here to be resolved into the good pleasure of God. 

It is further urged, that since those of the other side con- 
fess, that God by his prescience foresaw what circumstances 
might be happy, and what assistances might prove efficacious, 
to bad men ; then his not putting them in those circum- 
stances, but giving them such assistances only, which, how 
effectual soever they might be to others, he saw would haA^e 
no efficacy on them, and his putting them in circumstances, 
and giving them assistances, which he foresaw they would 
abuse, if it may seem to clear the justice of God, yet it cannot 
clear his infinite holiness and goodness ; which must ever carry 
him, according to our notions of these perfections, to do all 
that may be done, and that in the most effectual way, to res- 
cue others from misery, to make them truly good, and to put 
them in a way to be happy. Since therefore this is not always 
done, according to the other opinion, it is plain that there is 
an unsearchable depth in the ways of God, which we are not 
able to fathom. Therefore it must be concluded, that since 
all are not actually good, and so put in a way to be saved, that 

Rom. ix. God did not intend that it should be so; for '^who hath re- 
... sisted his will ? The counsel of the Lord standeth fast, and 

11. " the thoughts of his heart to all generations.' It is true, his 
laws are his will in one respect : he requires all to obey them : 
he approves them, and he obliges all men to keep them. All 
the expressions of his desires that all men should be saved, 
are to be explained of the will of revelation, commonly called 
the sign of his will. When it is said. What more could have 
been done ? that is to be understood of outward means and 

Isa. V. 4. blessings : but still God has a secret will of his good pleasure, 
in which he designs all things ; and this can never be frus- 
trated. 

From this they do also conclude, that though Christ's death 
was to be offered to all Christians, yet that intentionally and 
actually he only died for those whom the Father had chosen 



THE XXXIX ARTICLES. 



209 



and given to him to be saved by him. They cannot think that ART. 
Christ could have died in vain, which St. Paul speaks of as a ^VII. 



vast absurdity. Now since^ if he had died for all^ he should Gal. ii. 21. 
have died in vain, with relation to the far greater part of man- 
kind, who are not to be saved by him ; they from thence con- 
clude, that all those for whom he died are certainly saved by 
him. Perhaj)s with relation to some subaltern blessings, 
which are through him communicated, if not to all mankind, 
yet to all Christians, he may be said to have died for all : but 
as to eternal salvation, they believe his design went no further 
than the secret purpose and election of God, and this they 
think is impHed in these words, ^ all that are given me of my 
Father : thine they were, and thou gavest them me.' He also 
limits his intercession to those only ; ^ I pray not for the world, John xviu 
but for those that thou hast given me ; for they are thine : and ^' ^' 
all thine are mine, and mine are thine.^ They believe that he 
also limited to them the extent of his death, and of that sacri- 
fice which he offered in it. 

It is true, the Christian religion being to be distinguished 
from the Jewish in this main point, that whereas the Jewish 
was restrained to Abraham^s posterity, and confined within 
one race and nation, the Christian was to be preached to every 
creature; universal words are used concerning the death of 
Christ : but as the words, ^ preaching to every creature,^ and Mark xvL 
to ^ all the world,^ are not to be understood in the utmost 
extent, for then they have never been verified ; since the gos- 
pel has never yet, for aught that appears to us, been preached 
to every nation under heaven ; but are only to be explained 
generally of a commission not limited to one or more nations ; 
none being excluded from it : the apostles were to execute it 
in going from city to city, as they should be inwardly moved 
to it by the Holy Ghost : so they think that those large words, 
that are applied to the death of Christ, are to be understood 
in the same qualified manner ; that no nation or sort of men 
are excluded from it, and that some of all kinds and sorts shall 
be saved by him. And this is to be carried no further, with- 
out an imputation on the justice of God : for if he has received 
a sufficient oblation and satisfaction for the sins of the whole 
world, it is not reconcileable to justice, that all should not be 
saved by it, or should not at least have the offer and promulga- 
tion of it made them ; that so a trial may be made whether 
they will accept of it or not. 

The grace of God is set forth in scripture by such figures 
and expressions as do plainly intimate its efficacy ; and that 
it does not depend upon us to use it, or not to use it, at plea- 
sure. It is said to be a creation; ^we are created unto good Eph.ii. lO. 
works, and we become new creatures :' it is called a regenera- p^j^'^j['j3" 
tion, or a new birth ; it is called a quickening and a resurrec- Ps. cx! 3 * 
tion ; as our former state is compared to a feebleness, a blind- Jer. xxxL 
ness, and a death. God is said ' to work in us both to will 



210 



AN EXPOSITION OF 



ART. and to do : His people shall be willing in the day of his 
power : He will write his laws in their hearts^ and make them 
j^2ek! ' walk in them.^ Mankind is compared to a mass of clay in 
xxxvi. 26, the hand of the potter, who of the same lump makes at his 
Rom ix P^^^s^^^ ' vessels of honour or of dishonour/ These passages^ 
21°™* this last in particular, do insinuate an absolute and a conquer- 
ing power in grace ; and that the love of God constrains us, 
as St. Paul speaks expressly. 

AU outward coaction is contrary to the nature of liberty, 
and all those inward impressions that drove on the prophets, 
so that they had not the free use of their faculties, but felt 
themselves carried they knew not how, are inconsistent with 
it ; yet when a man feels that his faculties go in their method, 
and that he assents or chooses from a thread of inward con- 
viction and ratiocination, he still acts freely, that is, by an in- 
ternal principle of reason and thought. A man acts as much 
according to his faculties, when he assents to a truth, as when 
he chooses what he is to do : and if his mind were so en- 
hghtened, that he saw as clearly the good of moral things, as 
he perceives speculative truths, so that he felt himself as httle 
able to resist the one as the other, he would be no less a free 
and a rational creature, than if he were left to a more unlimited 
range : nay the more evidently that he saw the true good of 
things, and the more that he were determined by it, he should 
then act more suitably to his faculties, and to the excellence 
of his nature. For though the saints in heaven being made 
perfect in glory are no more capable of further rewards, yet it 
cannot be denied but they act with a more accomplished 
hberty, because they see aU things in a true light, according 
Ps. xxxvi. to that, ^ in thy light we shaU see hght and therefore they 
conclude that such an overcoming degree of grace, by which a 
man is made willing through the illumination of his under- 
standing, and not by any blind or violent impulse, is no way 
contrary to the true notion of liberty. ; - 

After all, they think, that if a debate falls to be between 
the sovereignty of God, his acts and his purposes, and the 
freedom of man^s will, it is modest and decent rather to make 
the abatement on man^s part, than on God^s ; but they think 
there is no need of this. They infer, that besides the outward 
enlightening of a man by knowledge, there is an inward en- 
lightening of the mind, and a secret forcible conviction 
stamped on it ; otherwise what can be meant by the prayer of 
St. Paul for the Ephesians, who had already heard the gospel 
Eph.i. 17, preached, and were instructed in it; ^that the eyes of their 
18, 19. understanding being enlightened, they might know what was 
the hope of his calling, and what the riches of the glory of 
his inheritance in the saints, and what was the exceeding 
greatness of his power towards them that believed.' This 
seems to be somewhat that is both internal and efficacious. 
Christ compares the union and influence that he communi- 



THE XXXIX ARTICLES. 



2'll 



catesi to believers, to that union of a head with the members, ART. 
and of a root with the branches, which imports an internal, XV II. 
a vital, and an efficacious influence. And though the outward 
means that are olFered may be, and always are, rejected, when 
not accompanied with this overcoming grace, yet this never 
returns empty ; these outward means coming from God, the 
resisting of them is said to be the ^ resisting God, the grieving Acts vii. 
or quenching his Spirit;^ and so in that sense we resist the . 
grace or favour of God; but we can never withstand him 39 ''^* 
when he intends to overcome us. 

As for perseverance, it is a necessary consequence of abso- 
lute decrees, and of efficacious grace ; for since all depends 
upon God, and that as ^of his own will he begat us,' so with Jam. i, 17, 
him ^ there is neither variableness nor shadow of turning : 
whom he loves he loves to the end;' and he has promised. Job. xiii.i. 
that ^he will never leave nor forsake those to whom he be- Heb.xiii.5. 
comes a God :' we must from thence conclude, that ^the pur- Rom. xi. 
pose and calling of God is without repentance.' And there- 
fore though good men may fall into grievous sins, to keep 
them from which there are dreadful things said in scripture, 
against their falling away, or apostasy ; yet God does so up- 
hold them, that, though he suffers them often to feel the 
weight of their natures, yet of all that are given by the Father j J "J^"' 
to the Son to be saved by him, none are lost. xviii. 8,9. 

Upon the whole matter, they beheve that God did in himself 
and for his own glory foreknow such a determinate number, 
whom he pitched upon, to be the persons in whom he would 
be both sanctified and glorified: that, having thus foreknown 
them, he predestinated them to be holy, conformable to the 
image of his Son : that these were to be called not by a general 
calling in the sense of these words, ^many are called, but few Matt.xx. 
are chosen ;' but to be ^ caEed according to his purpose :' and ^^^^ 
those he justified upon their obeying that calling ; and he 29, 30, 
wiU in conclusion glorify them. Nor are these words only 
to be limited to the sufferings of good men; they are to be 
extended to all the effects of the love of God, according to 
that which follows, that ^nothing can separate us from the 
love of God in Christ.' The whole reasoning in the 9th of 
the Romans does so plainly resolve all the acts of God's ix. 
mercy and justice, his hardening as well as his pardoning, into 
an absolute freedom, and an unsearchable depth, that more 
express words to that effect can hardly be imagined. 

It is in general said, that ^the children being yet unborn, Ver. 11— 
neither having done good or evil ; that the purpose of God 
according to election might stand, not of works, but of him 
that calleth; Jacob was loved and Esau hated;' that God 
^raised up Pharaoh, that he might shew his power in him;' "^'er. 17. 
and when an objection is suggested against all this, instead of 
answering it, it is silenced with this, ^ Who art thou, O man, ^"^r. 20. 
that rephest against God?' And all is illustrated with, the 

p 2 



212 



i^f' EXPOSITION 6^^ 



A R T. figure of tKe'^otter ; and concluded with this solemn question^ 
' What if God^ willing to shew his wrath^ and to make his 
Yer. 22. power known^ endured with much long-suffering the vessels 
of wrath fitted to destruction ?' This carries the reader to 
consider what is so often repeated in the book of Exodus^ con- 
Exod.iv. cerning God^s ^hardening the heart of Pharaoh, so that he 
21.x. 20. would not let his people go/ It is said, that God ^has made 
^Ij^^g- the wicked man for the day of evil as it is written on the 
Prov. xvi. other hand, that as many believed the gospel, as were ap- 
4. pointed to eternal life/ Some are said to be ^ written in the 

Actsxni. |)Qok of life, of the Lamb slain before the foundation of the 
Rev. xiii. world, or according to God^s purpose before the world began/ 
8. iii. 5. Ungodly men are said to be ^ of old ordained to condemnation, 
xxi 27 given up by God unto vile affections, and to be 

2 Tim. i. 9. given over by him to a reprobate mind/ Therefore they think 
Jude4. that reprobation is an absolute and free act of God, as well as 
Rom.i.26, election, to manifest his holiness and justice in them who are 
under it, as well as his love and mercy is manifested in the 
elect. Nor can they think with the Sublapsarians, that re- 
probation is only God^s passing by those whom he does not 
elect ; this is an act unworthy of God, as if he forgot them, 
which does clearly imply imperfection. And as for that which 
is said concerning their being fallen in Adam, they argue, that 
either Adam^s sin, and the connection of all mankind to him 
as their head and representative, was absolutely decreed, or it 
was not: if it was, then all is absolute; Adam^s sin and the 
fall of mankind were decreed, and by consequence all from the 
beginning to the end are under a continued chain of absolute 
decrees; and then the Supralapsarian and the Sublapsarian 
hypothesis will be one and the same, only variously expressed. 
But if Adam^s sin was only foreseen and permitted, then a 
conditionate decree founded upon prescience is once admitted, 
so that all that follows turns upon it ; and then all the argu- 
ments either against the perfection of such acts, or the cer- 
tainty of such a prescience, turn against this ; for if they are 
admitted in any one instance, then they may be admitted in 
others as well as in that. 

The Sublapsarians do always avoid to answer this ; and it 
seems they do rather incline to think that Adam was under 
J ^ an absolute decree; and if so, then though their doctrine may 

seem to those, who do not examine things nicely, to look 
more plausible ; yet reaUy it amounts to the same thing mth 
the other. For it is aU one to say, that God decreed that 
Adam should sin, and that all mankind should fall in him, and 
that then God should choose out of mankind, thus fallen by 
his decree, such as he would save, and leave the rest in that 
lapsed state to perish in it ; as it is to say, that God intending 
to save some, and to damn others, did, in order to the carry- 
ing this on in a method of justice, decree Adam^s fall, and the 
faU of mankin d in him, in order to the saving of his elect, and 



THE XXXIX ARTICLES. 



213 



the damning of the rest. All that the Sablapsarians say in A R r. 
this particular for themselves is, that the scripture has not 
declared any thing concerning the fall of Adam, in such formal 
terms, that they can affirm any thing concerning it. A liberty of 
another kind seems to have been then in man, when he was 
made after the image of God, and before he was corrupted by 
sin. And therefore though it is not easy to clear all difficulties 
in so intricate a matter, yet it seems reasonable to think, that 
man in a state of innocency was a purer and a freer creature to 
good, than now he is. But after aU, this seems to be only a 
fleeing from the difficulty, to a less offensive way of talking of 
it ; for if the prescience of future contingents cannot be cer- 
tain, unless they are decreed, then God could not certainly ' 
foreknow Adam^s sin, without he had made an absolute decree 
about it ; and that, as was just now said, is the same thing 
with the Supralapsarian hypothesis ; of which I shall say no 
more, having now laid together in a small compass the full 
strength of this argument. I go next to set out with the same 
fidelity and exactness the Remonstrants^ arguments. 

They begin with this, that God is just, holy, and merciful : 
that, in speaking of himself in the scripture with relation to 
those attributes, he is pleased to make appeals to men, to call 
them to reason with him : thus his prophets did often bespeak 
the Jewish nation ; the meaning of which is, that God acts so, 
that men, according to the notions that they have of those 
attributes, may examine them, and will be forced to justify 
and approve them. Nay, in these God proposes himself to 
us, as our pattern ; we ought to imitate him in them, and by 
consequence we may frame just notions of them. We are re- 
quired to be holy and merciful as he is merciful. What then 
can we think of a justice that shall condemn us for a fact that 
we never committed, and that was done many years before we 
were born ? as also that designs first of all to be glorified by 
our being eternally miserable, and that decrees that we shall 
commit sins, to justify the previous decree of our reprobation ? 
If those decrees are thus originally designed by God, and are 
certainly effectuated, then it is inconceivable how there should 
be a justice in punishing that which God himself appointed 
by an antecedent and irreversible decree should be done : so 
y ^ this seems to lie hard upon justice. It is no less hard upon 
infinite holiness, to imagine that a Being of ^ purer eyes than Hab. i. 13. 
that it can behold iniquity,^ should by an antecedent decree 
fix our committing so many sins, in such a manner that it is 
not possible for us to avoid them : this is to make us to be 
born indeed under a necessity of sin ; and yet this necessity 
is said to flow from the act and decrees of God : God repre- 
sents himself always in the scriptures as ^ gracious, merciful, Ex. xxxiv. 
slow to anger, and abundant in goodness and truth.^ It is ^• 
often said, that '^he desires that no man should perish, but 2 Pet.iii.9, 
tliat aU should come to the knowledge of the truth and this 



214 



AN EXPOSITION OF 



ART. is said sometimes with the solemnity of an oath ; ^ As I hve, 
saith the Lord^ I take no pleasure in the death of sinners/ 
Ezek.xviii. They ask^ what sense can such words bear, if we can believe 
32. that God did by an absolute decree reprobate so many of 
xxxm. 11. them? If all things that happen do arise out of the de- 
cree of God as its first cause, then we must believe that God 
takes pleasure both in his own decrees and in the execution 
of them ; and, by consequence, that he takes pleasure in the 
death of sinners, and that in contradiction to the most ex- 
press and most solemn words of scripture. Besides, what can 
we think of the truth of God, and of the sincerity of those 
offers of grace and mercy, with the obtestations, the exhorta- 
tions, and expostulations upon them, that occur so often in 
scripture, if we can think that by antecedent acts of God he 
determined that all these should be ineffectual ; so that they 
are only so many solemn words that do indeed signify nothing, 
if God intended that all things should fall out as they do, and 
if they do so fall out only because he intended it ? The chief 
foundation of this opinion lies in this argument as its basis, 
that nothing can be beheved that contradicts the justice, ho- 
liness, the truth, and purity, of God ; that these attributes are 
in God according to our notions concerning them, only they 
are in him infinitely more perfect; since we are required to 
imitate them. Whereas the doctrine of absolute decrees does 
manifestly contradict the clearest ideas that we can form of 
justice, holiness, truth, and goodness. 

From the nature of God they go to the nature of man ; and 
they think that such an inward freedom by which a man is 
the master of his own actions, and can do or not do what he 
pleases, is so necessary to the morality of our actions, that 
without it our actions are neither good nor evil, neither capa- 
ble of rewards or punishment. Mad men, or men asleep, are 
not to be charged with the good or evil of what they do ; 
therefore at least some degrees of liberty must be left with 
us, otherwise why are we praised or blamed for any thing 
that we do ? If a man thinks that he is under an inevitable 
decree, as he will have little remorse for all the evil he does, 
while he imputes it to that inevitable force that constrains 
him, so he will naturally conclude that it is to no purpose for 
him to struggle with impossibilities : and men being inclined 
both to throw all blame off from themselves, and to indulge 
themselves in laziness and sloth, these practices are too 
natural to mankind to be encouraged by opinions that favour 
them. All virtue and religion, all discipline and industry, 
must arise from this as their first principle ; that there is a 
power in us to govern our own thoughts and actions, and to 
raise and improve our faculties. If this is denied, all endea- 
vours, all education, all pains either on ourselves or others, are 
vain and fruitless things. Nor is it possible to make a man 
believe other than this • for he does so plainly perceive that 



THE XXXIX ARTICLES. 



215 



he is a free agent ; he feels himself balance matters in his ART. 
thoughts,, and deh]3erate about them so evidently, that he 
certainly knows he is a free being. ,.;;v, ./^ 

This is the image of God that is stamped upon his nature '^r 
and though he feels himself often hurried on so impetuously, 
that he may seem to have lost liis freedom in some turns, 
and upon some occasions : yet he feels that he might have 
restrained that heat in its first beginnings ; he feels he can 
divert his thoughts, and master himseK in most things, when 
he sets himself to it : he finds that knowledge and reflection, 
that good company and good exercises, do tame and soften 
him, and that bad ones make him wild, loose, and irregular. 
From all this they conclude that man is free, and not under 
inevitable fate, or irresistible motions either to good or evil. 
All this they confirm from the whole current of the scripture, 
that is full of persuasions, exhortations, reproofs, expostula- 
tions, encouragements, and terrors; which are all vain and 
theatrical things, if there are no free powers in us to which 
they are addressed : to what purpose is it to speak to dead 
men, to persuade the blind to see, or the lame to run ? If 
we are under an impotence till the irresistible grace comes, 
and if, when it comes, nothing can withstand it, then what 
occasion is there for all those solemn discourses, if they can 
have no effect on us ? They cannot render us inexcusable, 
unless it were in our power to be bettered by them ; and to 
imagine that God gives fight and blessings to those whom he 
before intended to damn, only to make them inexcusable, 
when they could do them no good, and they will serve only 
to aggravate their condemnation, gives so strange an idea of 
that infinite goodness, that it is not fit to express it by those 
terms which do naturally arise upon it. 

It is as hard to suppose two contrary wills in God, the 
one commanding us our duty, and requiring us with the most 
solemn obtestations to do it, and the other putting a certain 
bar in our way, by decreeing that we shall do the contrary. 
This makes God look as if he had a will and a will; though 
a heart and a heart import no good quaUty, when apphed to 
men : the one will requires us to do our duty, and the other 
makes it impossible for us not to sin : the will for the good 
is inefifectual, while the will that makes us sin is infallible. 
These things seem very hard to be apprehended; and whereas 
the root of true religion is the having right and high ideas of 
God and of his attributes, here such ideas arise as naturally 
give us strange thoughts of God ; and if they are received by 
us as originals, upon which we are to form om' own natures, 
such notions may make us grow to be spiteful, imperious, and 
without bowels, but do not seem proper to inspire us with 
love, mercy, and compassion; though God is always proposed 
to us in that view. All preaching and instruction does also 
suppose this: for to what purpose are men called upon, taught, 



216 



AN EXPOSITION OF 



ART, and endeavoured to be persuaded^, if they are not free agent% 
XVII. and have not a power over their own thoughts^ and if they are 
not to be convinced and turned by reason ? The offers of , ^ 
peace and pardon that are made to all men are delusory thing^l, 
if they are by an antecedent act of God restrained only,jtf^ 
feWj and all others are barred from them, '"^ 4 "^1 

It is further to be considered^ say they^ that God having-^^ 
made men free creatures^ his governing them accordingly^ an3, ,1 
making his own administration of the world suitable to it^ i^,^ 
no diminution of his own authority: it is only the carrying 
on of his own creation according to the several natures that 
he has put in that variety of beings of which this world is 
composed^ and with which it is diversified : therefore if some 
of the acts of God^ with relation to man^ are not so free as, 
his other acts are^ and as we may suppose necessary to thi^,., 
ultimate perfection of an independent Being, this arises nottil 
from any defect in the acts of God, but because the nature of 
the creature that he intended to make free is inconsistent with 
such acts* 

The Divine Omnipotence is not lessened when we observe 
some of his works to be more beautiful and useful than others 
are 5 and the irregular productions of nature do not derogate 
from the order in which all things appear lovely to the Divine 
Mind. So if that liberty, with which he intended to endue 
thinking beings, is incompatible with such positive acts, and 
so positive a providence as governs natural things and this 
material world, then this is no way derogatory to the sove- 
reignty of his mind. This does also give such an account of 
the evil that is in the world, as does no way accuse or lessen 
the purity and holiness of God; since he only suffers his 
creatures to go on in the free use of those powers that he has 
given them ; about which he exercises a special providence, 
making some men^s sins to be the immediate punishments 
of their own or of other men^s sins, and restraining them 
often in a great deal of that evil that they do design, and., 
bringing out of it a great deal of good that they did not de- 
sign; but all is done in a way suitable to their natures, without 
any violence to them. 

It is true, it is not easy to shew how those future contin- 
gencies^ which depend upon the free choice of the will^ should 
be certain and infallible. But we are on other accounts cer- 
tain that it is so; for we see through the whole scriptures a 
thread of very positive prophecies, the accomplishment of 
which depended on the free wiU of man; and these predic- 
tions, as they were made very precisely, so they were no less 
punctually accomplished. Not to mention any other pro- 
phecies, all those that related to the death and sufferings of 
Christ were fulfilled by the free acts of the priests and people 
of the Jews : they sinned in doing it, which proves that they 
acted in it with their natural liberty. By these and all the 



THE XXXIX ARTICLES. 



217 



other prophecies that are in both Testaments^ it must be ART. 
confessed, that these things were certainly foreknown ;- but 
where to found that certainty, cannot be easily resolved ; the 
infinite perfection of the Divine Mind ought here to silence i 
all objections. A clear idea, by which we apprehend a thing J 
to be plainly contrary to the attributes of God, is indeed a 
just ground of rejecting it ; and therefore they think that they 
are in the right to deny all such to be in God, as they plainly 
apprehend to be contrary to justice, truth, and goodness: but ^ 
if the objection against any thing supposed to be in God lies 
only against the manner and the unconceivableness of it, there 
the infinite perfection of God answers all. 

It is further to be considered, that this prescience does not 
make the effects certain, because they are foreseen ; but they 
are foreseen because they are to be ; so that the certainty of 
the prescience is not antecedent or causal, but subsequent 
and eventual. Whatsoever happens, was future before it 
happened; and since it happened, it was certainly future from 
all eternity; not by a certainty of fate, but by a certainty 
that arises out of its being once, from which this truth, that it 
was future, was eternally certain : therefore the Divine Pre- 
science being only the knowing all things that were to come, 
that does not infer a necessity or causality. 

The scripture plainly shews on some occasions a condition- 
ate prescience : God answered David, that Saul was come to ^ 
Keilah, and that the men of Keilah were to dehver him up; 12!"* ' 
and yet both the one and the other was upon the condition of 
his sta^dng there; and he going from thence, neither the one 
nor the other ever happened : here was a conditionate pre- 
science. Such was Christ^s saying, that those of Tyre and Ma"- xi. 
Sidon, Sodom and Gomorrah, would have turned to him, if ^' 
they had seen the miracles that he wrought in some of the 3 
towns of Galilee. Since then this prescience may be so cer- ^ 
tain, that it can never be mistaken, nor misguide the designs ^ 
or providence of God ; and since by this both the attributes ^ 
of God are vindicated, and the due freedom of the will of man ^ 
is asserted, all difficulties seem to be easily cleared this way. 

As for the giving to some nations and persons the means of 
salvation, and the denying these to others, the scriptures do 
indeed ascribe that wholly to the riches and freedom of God's 
grace ; but still they think, that he gives to aU men that which 
is necessary to the state in which they are, to answer the 
obhgations they are under in it; and that this light and 
common grace is sufficient to carry them so far, that God will 
either accept of it, or give them further degrees of illumina- ' 
tion : from which it must be inferred, that all men are inex- 
cusable in his sight; and that ^God is always just and clear Psal. li.4. 
when he judges since every man had that which was suf- 
ficient, if not to save him, yet at least to bring him to a state 
of salvation. But besides what is thus simply necessary, and 



218 



AN EXPOSITION OF 



ART. is of itself sufficient^ there are innumerable favours^ like 
largesses of God^s grace and goodness; these God gives 
freely as he pleases. 

And thus the great designs of Providence go on according 
to the goodness and mercy of God. None can complain, 
though some have more cause to rejoice and glory in God 
than others. What happens to nations in a body may also 
happen to individuals ; some may have higher privileges, be 
put in happier circumstances, and have such assistances given 
them as God foresees wiU become effectual, and not only 
those, which though they be in their nature sufficient, yet in 
the event will be ineffectual: every man ought to complain of 
himself for not using that which was sufficient, as he might 
.&\ offio have done ; and aU good men will have matter of rejoicing in 
' God, for giving them what he foresaw would prove effectual. 
After aU, they acknowledge there is a depth in this, of God^s 
not giving all nations an equal measure of light, nor putting 
all men into equally happy circumstances, which they cannot 
unriddle : but still justice, goodness, and truth, are saved ; 
though we may imagine a goodness that may do to all men 
what is absolutely the best for them : and there they confess 
there is a difficulty, but not equal to those of the other side. 

From hence it is that they expound all those passages in 
the New Testament, concerning the purpose, the election, the 
foreknowledge, and the predestination, of God, so often men- 
tioned. All those, they say, relate to God^s design of calling 
the Gentile world to the knowledge of the Messias : this was 
kept secret, though hints of it are given in several of the 
Prophets; so it was a mystery; but it was then revealed, 
when, according to Christ^s commission to his apostles, to 
^go and teach all nations,' they went preaching the gospel to 
the Gentiles. This was a stumbhng-block to the Jews, and it 
was the chief subject of controversy betwixt them and the 
apostles at the time when the Epistles were writ : so it was 
necessary for them to clear this very fully, and to come often 
over it. But there was no need of amusing people in the be- 
ginnings of Christianity, and in that first infancy of it, with 
high and unsearchable speculations concerning the decrees of 
God : therefore they observe, that the apostles shew how that 
Abraham at first, Isaac and Jacob afterwards, were chosen by 
a discriminating favour, that they and their posterity should 
be in covenant with God: and upon that occasion the apostle 
goes on to shew, that God had always designed to call in 
the Gentiles, though that was not executed but by their 
ministry. 

With this key one wiU find a plain coherent sense in all St. 
Paul's discourses on this subject, without asserting antecedent 
and special decrees as to particular persons. Things that 
happen under a permissive and directing Providence, may be 
also in a largeness of expression ascribed to the will and 



THE XXXIX ARTICLES. 



219 



counsd of God; for a permissive and directing will is really ART. 
a will^ though it be not antecedent nor causal. The harden- 
ing Pharaoh's heart may be ascribed to God, though it is Exod. vii. 
said that his hea7't hardened itself; because he took occa- 22. 
sion, from the stops God put in those plagues that he sent f5^°^9^32 
upon him and his people, to encourage himself, when he saw 
there was a new respite granted him : and he who was a cruel 
and bloody prince, deeply engaged in idolatry and magic, had 
deserved such judgments for his other sins ; so that he may 
be well considered as actually under his final condemnation, 
only under a reprieve, not swallowed up in the first plagues, 
but preserved in them, and raised up out of them, to be a 
lasting monument of the justice of God against such hardened 
impenitency. ^ Whom he will he hardeneth,^ must be still J^o^"- i^. 
restrained to such persons as that tyrant was. 

It is endless to enter into the discussion of all the passages 
cited from the scripture to this purpose ; this key serving, as 
they think it does, to open most of them. It is plain these 
words of our Saviour concerning those ^whom the Father had John xvii. 
given him,^ are only to be meant of a dispensation of Provi- 
dence, and not of a decree ; since he adds, ^ And I have lost 
none of them, except the son of perdition :^ for it cannot be 
said, that he was in the decree, and yet was lost. And in the 
same period in which God is said '^to work in us both to will Phil. ii. 12, 
and to do,^ we are required to ^ work out our own salvation 
mth fear and trembhng.^ The word rendered, ^ ordained to Acts xiii. 
eternal life,^ does also signify, fitted or predisposed to eternal 
life. That question, ^Who made thee to differ?^ seems to iCor.iv.7. 
refer to those gifts which in different degrees and measures 
were poured out on the first Christians 5 in which men were 
only passive, and discriminated from one another by the free- 
dom of those gifts, without any thing previous in them to dis- 
pose them to them. 

Christ is said to be the ^propitiation for the sins of the iJohnii.2. 
whole world and the wicked are said to ^ deny the Lord that 2 Pet. ii. 1. 
bought them ;^ and his death, as to its extent to all men, is 
set in opposition to the sin of Adam: so that '^as by the Rom.v.i8. 
offence of one, judgment came upon all men to condemnation ; 
so by the righteousness of one, the free gift came upon all men 
to justification of life.^ The all of the one side must be of the 
same extent with the all of the other : so since all are con- 
cerned in Adam's sin, all must be likewise concerned in the 
death of Christ. This they urge further, with this argument, 
that all men are obliged to believe in the death of Christ, but 
no man can be obliged to believe a lie ; therefore it follows 
that he must have died for all Nor can it be thought that 
grace is so efficacious of itself, as to determine us ; otherwise 
why are we required ^ not to grieve God's Spirit ?' Why is it Acts vn. 
said, ' Ye do always resist the Holy Ghost : as your fathers ^j^tj ^xiii 
did, so do ye. How often would I have gathered you under 37. 



220 



AN EXPOSITION OF 



ART. my wings^ but ye would not ? What more could I have done 
in my vineyard^ that has not been done in it ?^ These seem 
Isa. V. 4. to be plain intimations of a power in us^ by which we not only 
can, but often do, resist the motions of grace. 

If the determining efficacy of grace is not acknowledged, it 
will be yet much harder to believe that we are efficaciously 
determined to sin. This seems to be not only contrary to the 
purity and holiness of God, but is so manifestly contrary to the 
whole strain of the scriptures, that charges sin upon men, that 
in so copious a subject it is not necessary to bring proofs. 
Hos.xiii.9. ^ O Israel, thou hast destroyed thyself; but in me is thy 
John V. 40. help :^ and, *^Ye will not come unto me, that ye may have 
xxxiif 11 ^^^^ * ^ house of Israel ?' And as for that 

nicety of saying, that the evil of sin consists in a negation^ 
which is not a positive being, so that though God should 
determine men to the action that is sinful, yet he is not con- 
cerned in the sin of it : they think it is too metaphysical to 
put the honour of God and his attributes upon such a sub- 
tilty : for in sins against moral laws, there seems to be an an- 
tecedent immorality in the action itself, which is inseparable 
from it. But suppose that sin consisted in a negative, yet 
that privation does immediately and necessarily result out of 
the action, without any other thing whatsoever intervening ; 
so that if God does infallibly determine a sinner to commit 
the action to which that guilt belongs, though that should be 
a sin only by reason of a privation that is dependent upon it, 
then it does not appear but that he is really the author of sin ; 
since if he is the author of the sinful action, on which the sin 
depends as a shadow upon its substance, he must be esteemed, 
say they, the author of sin. 

And though it may be said, that sin being a violation of 
God's law, he himself, who is not bound by his law, cannot be 
guilty of sin ; yet an action that is immoral is so essentially 
opposite to infinite perfection, that God cannot be capable of 
it, as being a contradiction to his own nature. Nor is it to 
be supposed that he can damn men for that, which is the 
necessary result of an action to which he himself determined 
them. 

As for perseverance, the many promises made in the scrips 
Rev.ii.and tures to them that overcome, that continue stedfast and faitk- 
ful to the death, seem to insinuate, that a man may fall from a 
good state. Those famous words in the 6th of the Hebrews 
Heb. vi. do plainly intimate, that such men may ^ so fall away, that it 
Heb.x.38. jj^ay impossible to renew them again by repentance.^ And 
in that Epistle where it is said, ' The just shall live by faith ;^ 
it is added, *^but if he draw back [any man is not in the 
original), my soul shall have no pleasure in him.^ And it is 
Ezek.xviii. positively said by the prophet, ^ When the rig;hteous turneth 
away from his righteousness, and committeth iniquity, all his 
righteousness that he hath done shall not be mentioned; in 



THE XX'iiX^ 'XliTICLES. 



221 



his sin that he hath sinned shall he die/ These suppositions, ART. 
T\ith a great many more of the same strain that may be brought 
out of other places, do give us all possible reason to beheve 
that a good man may fall from a good state, as well as that a 
^^icked man may turn from a bad one. In conclusion, the end 
of all things, the final judgment at the last day, which shall 
be pronounced according to what men have done, whether 
good or evily and their being to be rewarded and punished 
according to it, seems so effectually to assert a freedom in our 
T\dlls, that they think this alone might serve to prove the whole 
cause. 

So far I have set forth the force of the argument on the 
side of the Remonstrants. As for the Socinians, they make 
their plea out of what is said by the one and by the other side. 
They agree vnth the Remonstrants in all that they say against 
absolute decrees, and in urging all those consequences that do 
arise out of them : and they do also agree with the Calvinists in 
all that they urge against the possibility of a certain prescience 
of future contingents : so that it will not be necessary to set 
forth their plea more specially, nor needs more be said in 
opposition to it, than what was already said as part of the 
Remonstrants^ plea. Therefore, without dwelling any longer 

l6n that, I come now to make some reflections upon the whole 

^jmatter. 

^ It is at first '^e# apparent, that there is a great deal of 
weight in what has been said of both sides : so much, that it 
is no wonder if education, the constant attending more to the 
difficulties of the one side than of the other, and a temper 
some way proportioned to it, does fix men very steadily to 
either the one or the other persuasion. Both sides have their 
.^difficulties, so it will be natural to choose that side where the 
.difficulties are least felt : but it is plain there is no reason for 
slither of them to despise the other, since the arguments of 
.both are far from being contemptible. 

j, ,^ It is further to be observed, that both sides seem to be 
' chiefly concerned to assert the honour of God, and of his at- 
tributes. Both agree in this, that whatever is fixed as the 
primary idea of God, all other things must be explained so 
as to be consistent with that. Contradictions are never to 
be admitted; but things may be justly believed, against 
which objections may be formed that cannot be easily an- 
swered. 

The one side think, that we must begin with the idea of 
infinite perfection, of independency, and absolute sovereignty: 
and if in the sequel difficulties occur which cannot be cleared, 
that ought not to shake us from this primary idea of God. 

Others think, that we cannot frame such clear notions of 
independency, sov^ereignty, and infinite perfection, as we can 
do of justice, truth, hohness, goodness, and mercy : and since 
the scripture proposes God to us most frequently under 



222 



AN EXPOSITION OF 



ART. those ideas, they think that we ought to fix on these as the 
primary ideas of God, and then reduce all other things to 
them. 

Thus both sides seem zealous for God and his glory ; both 
lay down general maxims that can hardly be disputed ; and 
both argue justly from their first principles. These are great 
grounds for mutual charity and forbearance in these matters. 

It is certain, that one who has long interwoven his thoughts 
of infinite perfection with the notions of absolute and un- 
changeable decrees, of carrying on every thing by a positive 
will, of doing every thing for his own glory, cannot apprehend 
decrees depending on a foreseen free will, a grace subject to 
it, a merit of Christ^s death that is lost, and a man^s being at 
one time loved, and yet finally hated, of God, without horror. 
These things seem to carry in them an appearance of feeble- 
ness, of dependence, and of changeableness. 

On the other hand, a man that has accustomed himself to 
think often on the infinite goodness and mercy, the long-suf- 
fering, patience, and slowness to anger, that appears in God ; 
he cannot let the thought of absolute reprobation, or of de- 
termining men to sin, or of not giving them the grace neces- 
sary to keep them from sin and damnation, enter into his 
mind, without the same horror that another feels in the re- 
verse of all this. 

So that the source of both opinions being the different ideas 
that they have of God, and both these ideas being true ; men 
only mistaking in the extent of them, and in the consequences 
drawn from them ; here are the clearest grounds imaginable 
for a mutual forbearance, for not judging men imperiously, 
nor censuring them severely upon either side. And those who 
have at different times of their lives been of both opinions, 
and who upon the evidence of reason, as it has appeared to 
them, have changed their persuasions, can speak more afiirm- 
atively here ; for they know, that in great sincerity of heart 
they have thought both ways. 

Each opinion has some practical advantages of its side. 
A Calvinist is taught, by his opinions, to think meanly of 
himself, and to ascribe the honour of all to God; which lays 
in him a deep foundation for humility : he is also much in- 
clined to secret prayer, and to a fixed dependence on God ; 
which naturally both brings his mind to a good state, and fixes 
it in it : and so though perhaps he cannot give a coherent ac- 
count of the grounds of his watchfulness and care of himself ; 
yet that temper arises out of his humility, and his earnestness 
in prayer. A Remonstrant, on the other hand, is engaged to 
awaken and improve his faculties, to fill his mind with good 
notions, to raise them in himself by frequent reflection, and 
by a constant attention to his own actions : he sees cause to 
reproach himself for his sins, and to set about his duty to 
purpose : being assured that it is through his own fault if he 



THE XXXIX ARTICLES. 223 



miscarries : he has no dreadful terrors upon his mind ; nor is A R T. 
he tempted to an undue security^ or to swell up in (perhaps) "^^^^^ 
an imaginary conceit of his being unalterably in the favour 
of God. 

Both sides have their peculiar temptations as well as their 
advantages : the Calvinist is tempted to a false security^ and 
sloth : and the Arminian may be tempted to trust too much 
to himself^ and too little to God : so equally may a man of a 
calm temper^ and of moderate thoughts^ balance this matter 
between both the sides_, and so unreasonable it is to give way 
to a positive and dictating temper in this point. If the Ar- 
minian is zealous to assert liberty, it is because he cannot see 
how there can be good or evil in the world without it : he 
thinks it is the work of God, that he has made for great ends ; 
and therefore he can allow of nothing that he thinks destroys 
it. If on the other hand a Calvinist seems to break in upon 
liberty, it is because he cannot reconcile it with the sove- 
reignty of God, and the freedom of his grace : and he grows 
to think that it is an act of devotion to offer up the one to 
save the other. 

The common fault of both sides is to charge one another 
with the consequences of their opinions, as if they were truly 
their tenets. Whereas they are apprehensive enough of these 
consequences, they have no mind to them, and they fancy that 
by a few distinctions they can avoid them. But each side 
thinks the consequences of the other are both worse, and more 
certainly fastened to that doctrine, than the consequences 
that are urged against himself are. And so they think they 
must choose that opinion that is the least perplexed and diffi- 
cult: not but that ingenuous and learned men of all sides confess, 
that they feel themselves very often pinched in these matters. 

Another very indecent way of managing these points is, that 
both sides do too often speak very boldly of God. Some 
petulant wits, in order to the representing the contrary 
opinion as absurd and ridiculous, have brought in God, repre- 
senting him, vfith indecent expressions, as acting or decreeing, 
according to their hypothesis, in a manner that is not only 
unbecoming, but that borders upon blasphemy. From w^hich, 
though they think to escape by saying that they are only 
shewing what must follow if the other opinion were believed ; 
yet there is a solemnity and gravity of style, that ought to be 
most religiously observed, when we poor mortals take upon us 
to speak of the glory or attributes, the decrees or operations, 
of the great God of heaven and earth : and every thing relating 
to this, that is put in a burlesque air, is intolerable. It is a 
sign of a very daring presumption, to pretend to assign the 
order of all the acts of God, the ends proposed in them, and 
the methods by which they are executed. We, who do not 
know how our thoughts carry our bodies to obey and second 
our minds, should not imagine that we can conceive how God 



224 



AN EXPOSITION OF 



A R T. may move or bend our wills. The hard thing to digest in 
this whole matter, is reprobation : they who think it necessary 
to assert the freedom of election, would fain avoid it : they 
seek soft words for it, such as the passing by or leaving men 
to perish : they study to put that on Adam^s sin, and they 
take all the methods they can to soften an opinion that seems 
harsh, and that sounds ill. But howsoever they will bear all 
the consequences of it, rather than l^t the point of absolute 
election go. '^^ ^^^^"^^^^ xisvd IpaU % ai M j^riw woxi>i oi mia lot 

On the other sicteV tliose^lio d6 once pei-sukke'theniselv^^ 
that the doctrine of reprobation is false, do not see how they 
can deny it, and yet ascribe a free election to God. They are 
once persuaded that there can be no reprobation but what is 
conditionate, and founded on what is foreseen concerning men's 
sins: and from this they are forced to say the same thing of 
election. And both sides study to begin the controversy with 
that which they think they can the most easily prove ; the oii^ 
at the establishing of election, and the other at the overthrow^ 
ing of reprobation. Some have studied to seek out middle 
ways : for they observing that the scriptures are writ in a great 
diversity of style, in treating of the good or evil that happens 
to us, ascribing the one to God, and imputing the other tp 
ourselves, teaching us to ascribe the honour of all that is goo'd' 
to God, and to cast the blame of all that is evil upon ourselv^i^^ 
have from thence concluded, that God must have a difFereiit 
influence and causality in the one, from what he has in the 
other : but when they go to make this out, they meet with 
great difficulties ; yet they choose to bear these rather than to 
involve themselves in those equally great, if not greater diffi- 
culties, that are in either of the other opinions. They wrap 
up all in two general assertions, that are great practical truths. 
Let us arrogate no good to ourselves, and impute no evil to 
Go6?, and so let the whole matter rest. This maybe thought 
by some the lazier, as well as the safer way : which avoids 
difficulties, rather than answers them; whereas they sa}'' of 
both the contending sides, that they are better at the starting 
of difficulties than at the resolving of them.^«9«Q^^*8ndfis'fqHro'> 

Thus far I have gone upon the general, in making siich 
reflections as will appear but' too well grouhded to those who 
have with any attention read the chief disputants of both sides. 
In these great points all agree : that mercy is freely offered to 
the world in Christ Jesus : that God did freely offer his Son 
to be our propitiation, and has freely accepted the sacrifice of 
his death in our stead, whereas he might have condemned 
every man to have perished for his own sins : that God does, 
in the dispensation of his gospel, and the promulgation of it 
to the several nations, act according to the freedom of his 
grace, upon reasons that are to us mysterious and past finding 
out : that every man is inexcusable in the sight of God : that 



THE XXXIX ARTICLES. 



225 



all men are sq far free as to be praiseworthy or blameworthy A RT. 
for the good or evil that they do : that every man ought to 
employ his faculties all he can, and to pray and depend 
earnestly upon God for his protection and assistance : that no 
man in practice ought to think that there is a fate or decree 
hanging over him, and so become slothful in his duty, but that 
every man ought to do the best he can, as if there were no 
such decree, since, whether there is or is not, it is not possible 
for him to know w^hat it is : that every man ought to be deeply 
humbled for his sins in the sight of God, mthout excusing 
himself by pretending a decree was upon him, or a want of 
power in him : that all men are bound to obey the rules set 
them in the gospel, and are to expect neither mercy nor favour 
from God, but as they set themselves diligently about that : 
and finally, that at the last day all men shall be judged, not 
according to secret decrees, but according to their own works. 
In these great truths, of which the greater part are practical, 
all men agree. If they would agree as honestly in the prac- 
tice of them, as they do in confessing them to be true, they 
would do that which is much more important and necessary, 
than to speculate and dispute about niceties ; by which the 
world would quickly put on a new face, and then those few^, 
that might dehght in curious searches and arguments, would 
manage them with more modesty and less heat, and be both, 
less positive and less supercilious. 

I have hitherto insisted on such general reflections as seemed 
proper to these questions. I come now in the last place to ex- 
amine how far our church hath determined the matter, either 
in this Article or elsewhere : how far she hath restrained her 
sons, and how far she hath left them at liberty. For those 
different opinions being so intricate in themselves, and so apt 
to raise hot disputes, and to kindle lasting quarrels, it will not 
be suitable to that moderation Avhich our church hath observed 
in all other things, to stretch her words on these heads beyond 
their strict sense. The natural equity or reason of things 
ought rather to carry us, on the other hand, to as great a 
comprehensiveness of all sides, as may well consist with the 
words in which our church hath expressed herself on those 
heads. 

It is not to be denied, but that the Article seems to be 
framed according to St. Austin^s doctrine : it supposes men 
to be under a curse and damnation, antecedently to predestina- 
tion, from which they are delivered by it ; so it is directly 
against the Supralapsarian doctrine : nor does the Article 
make any mention of reprobation, no, not in a hint ; no defi- 
nition is made concerning it. The Article does also seem to 
assert the efficacy of grace : that in which the knot of the 
whole difficulty lies, is not defined; that is, whether God's 
eternal purpose or decree was made according to what he fore- 
saw his creatures would do, or purely upon an absolute will, 

Q 



226 



AN EXPOSITION OF 



A R T. in order to his own glory. It is very probable^ that those who. 
penned it meant that the decree was absolute ; but yet since 
they have not said it^ those who subscribe the Articles do not 
seem to be bound to any thing that is not expressed in them : 
and therefore since the Remonstrants do not deny but that 
God having foreseen what all mankind would^ according to 
all the diiferent circumstances in which they should be put, 
do or not do^, he upon that did^ by a firm and eternal decree, 
lay that whole design in all its branches^ which he executes in 
time ; they may subscribe this Article without renouncing 
their opinion as to this matter. On the other hand^ the Cal- 
vinists have less occasion for scruple ; since the Article does 
seem more plainly to favour them. The three cautions, 
that are added to it^ do likewise intimate that St. Austin^s 
doctrine was designed to be settled by the Article: for the 
dang 67' of men's having the sentence of God's predestination 
always before their eyes, which may occasion either desperation 
on the one hand, or the loretchlessness of most unclean living on 
the o/Aer, belongs only to that side ; since these mischiefs do 
not arise out of the other hypothesis. The other two, of taking 
the promises of God in the sense in which they are set forth to 
us in holy scriptures, mid of following that will of God that is 
eocpressly declared to us in the word of God, relate very visibly 
to the same opinion : though others do infer from these cau- 
tions, that the doctrine laid down in the Article must be so 
understood as to agree with these cautions j and therefore 
they argue, that since absolute predestination cannot consist 
with them, that therefore the Article is to be otherwise d^Xjr 
plained. They say the natural consequence of an absolute de- 
cree is either presumption or despair: since a man upon that 
bottom reckons, that which way soever the decree is made, it 
must certainly be accomplished. They also argue, that be- 
cause we must receive the promises of God as conditional, we 
must also beheve the decree to be conditional; for absolute 
decrees exclude conditional promises. An offer cannot be 
supposed to be made in earnest by him that has excluded the 
greatest number of men from it by an antecedent act of his 
own. And if we must only follow the revealed will of God, 
we ought not to suppose that there is an antecedent and posi- 
tive will of God, that has decreed our doing the contrary to 
what he has commanded. 

Thus the one side argues, that the Article as it hes, in the 
plain meaning of those who conceived it, does very expressly 
establish their doctrine : and the other argues, from those 
cautions that are added to it, that it ought to be understood 
so as that it may agree with these cautions: and both sides 
find in the Article itself such grounds, that they reckon they 
do not renounce their opinions by subscribing it. Tlie Re- 
monstrant side have this further to add, that the universal 
extent of the death of Christ seems to be very plainly affirmed 



THE XXXIX ARTICLES. 



227 



in' '{he mosf solemn part of all the offices of the church : for A R T. 
in the office of Communion, and in the Prayer of Consecration, 
we own that Christ, by the one oblation of himself once 
offered, made there a full, perfect, and sufficient sacrifice, 
oblation, and satisfaction, for the sins of the whole world. 
Though the others say, that by full, perfect, and sufficient, is 
not to be imderstood that Christ^s death was intended to be 
a complete sacrifice and satisfaction for tlie whole world, but 
that in its own value it was capable of being such. This is 
thought too great a stretch put upon the words. And there 
are yet more express words in our Church Catechism to this 
purpose j which is to be considered as the most solemn decla- 
ration of the sense of the church, since that is the doctrine in 
which she instructs all her children: and in that part of it 
wtiicli seems to be most important, as being the short summary 
of" the Apostles^ Creed, it is said, God the Son, who hath 
fedeemed me and all mankind : where all must stand in the 
same extent of universality, as in the precedent and in the 
following words j Tlie Father ivho made me and all the world ; 
the Holy Ghost who sanctifieth me and all the elect people of 
God ; which being to be understood severely, and without 
exception, this must also be taken in the same strictness. 
There is another argument brought from the office of Bap- 
tism, to prove that men may fall from a state of grace and 
regeneration ; for in the whole office, more particularly in the 
Thanksgiving after the Baptism, it is affirmed, that the person 
baptized is regenerated by God^s holy Spirit, and is received 
for his own child by adoption : now since it is certain that 
many who are baptized fall from that state of grace, this seems 
to import, that some of the regenerate may fall away : which 
though it agrees well v.itli St. Austin^ s doctrine, yet it does 
not agree with the Calvinists' opinions. '''^^^ 

Thus I have examined this matter in as short a compass as 
was possible; and yet I do not know that I have forgot any 
important part of the whole controversy, though it is large, 
a^id has many branches. I have kept, as far as I can perceive, 
that indifference which I proposed to myself in the prose- 
cuting of this matter; and have not on this occasion declared 
my own opinion, though I have not avoided the doing it upon 
other occasions. Since the church has not been peremptory, 
but that a latitude has been left to different opinions, I thought 
it became me to make this explanation of the Article such : 
and therefore I have not endeavoured to possess the reader 
with that which is my own sense in this matter, but have laid 
the force of the arguments, as well as the weight of the diffi- 
culties, of both sides, before him, with all the advantages that 
I had found in the books either of the one or of the other 
persuasion. And I leave the choice as free to my reader as 
the church has done. 

q2 



228 



AN EXPOSITION OF 



ART. .«9'>nab8noo Tj'illi. jou;{j 

XVIII. ^uiiuv rnu itiuiiMf booi^k» xiW ^^fm^■g'wl s svml oj aiwri^ 

^^^^ '9flc^ v^rb :8i9dinuii 

Of obtaining Eternal Salvation only by the Name ^J^*[ 

^i)tv also are to be accurfietJ, t!)at pre^gume to iSap, Cjat e^erg man 
igijall be ^abeK bv ti)t Halo or ^ect bjj^idj Ije profe^ij^eti) ; ^0 tj^at 
l)t be Mtgtnt to frame ilffe accorlJmg; to tjat ?lalo, antr t]^e 
Eigljt of J^ature. dTor ?|ofo Scripture tioti) ^et out unto, itil 
oitlp tl^e ^ame of Bt^n^ €f)ri^t, io^erebi) men mu^t be ^labetl. i . 

The impiel;^! frieft is condemned in this Article^ was first 
taught by some of the heathen orators and philosophers in 
the fourth century, who^ in their addresses to the Christian 
emperors for the tolerance oi paganism, started this thought^ 
that how lively soever it may seem, when well set off in a 
piece of eloquence, will not bear a severe argument: that God 
is more honoured by the varieties and different methods of 
worshipping and serving him, than if all should fall into the 
same way : that this diversity has a beauty in it, and a suit- 
ableness to the infinite perfections of God; and it does not 
look so like a mutual agreement or concert, as when all men 
worship him one way. But this is rather a flash of \^it than 
true reasoning. 

The Alcoran has carried this matter further, to the assert- 
ing, that all men in all religions are equally accej)table to God, 
if they serve him faithfully in them. The infusing this into 
the world, that has a show of mercy in it, made men more 
easy to receive their law; and they took care by their extreme 
severity to fix them in it, when they were once engaged : for 
though they use no force to make men Musselmans, yet 
they ]3unish with all extremity every thing that looks like 
apostacy from it, if it is once received. The doctrine of Le- 
viathan, that makes km to be religion Riid religion to be law, 
that is, that obliges subjects to believe that religion to be true, 
or at least to follow that which is enacted by the laws of their 
country, must be built either on this foundation, that there is 
no such thing as revealed religion, but that it is only a politi- 
cal contrivance: or that all religions are equally acceptable to 
God. 

Others having observed that it was a very small part of 
mankind that had the advantages of the Christian religion, 
have thought it too cruel to damn in their thoughts all those 
who have not heard of it, and yet have lived morally and 
virtuously, according to their hght and education. And some^ 
to make themselves and others easy, m accommodating their 
religion to their secular interests, to excuse their changing, 



THE XXXIX ARTICLES. 229 



and to quiet their consciences^ have set up this notion^ that ART. 
seems to have a largeness both of good nature and charity in J^^VllL 
it ; looks plausible, and is calculated to take in the greatest 
numbers : they therefore suppose that God in his infinite 
goodness will accept equally the services that all his creatures 
offer to him, according to the best of their skill and strength. 

In opposition to all which, they are here condemned, who 
think that every man shall be saved by the law or sect which 
he professeth: where a great difference is to be observed be- 
tween the words saved by the law, and saved in the law ; the 
one is condemned, but not the other. To be saved by a law or 
sect, signifies, that by the virtue of that law or sect such men 
who follow it may be saved: whereas to be saved in a law or 
sect imports only, that God may extend his compassions to 
men that are engaged in false religions. The former is only 
condemned by this article, which afiirms nothing concerning 
the other. In sum; if we have fully proved that the Christian 
religion was dehvered to the world in the name of God, and was 
attested by miracles, so that we believe its truth, we must be- 
lieve every part and tittle of it, and by consequence those pas- 
sages which denounce the wrath and judgments of God against 
impenitent sinners, and that promise mercy and salvation only 
upon the account of Christ and his death : ' We must believe Rom. x. 
with our hearts, and confess it with our mouths : we must not be ^-j 
ashamed of Christ, or of his words_,lest he should be ashamed 33. 
of us, when he comes in the glory of his Father, with his 
holy angels.^ This, I say, being a part of the gospel, must be 
as true as the gospel itself is ; and these rules must bind all 
those to whom they are proposed, whether they are enacted 
by law or not; for if we are assured that they are a part of 
the laio of the King of kings, we are bound to beheve and obey 
them, whether human laws do favour them or not; it being 
an e^ddent thing, that no subordinate authority can derogate 
from that which is superior to it : so if the laws of God are 
clearly revealed, and certainly conveyed down to us, we are 
bound by them, and no human law can dissolve this obliga- 
tion. If God has declared his will to us, it can never be sup- 
posed to be free to us to choose whether we will ol^ey it or 
not, and serve him under that or under another form of 
religion, at our pleasure and choice. We are limited by what 

- God has declared to us, and we must not fancy ourselves to 
be at liberty after he has revealed his will to us. 

As to such to whom the Christian religion is revealed, there 
no question can be made, for it is certain they are under an 
indispensable obligation to obey and follow that which is so 

6 graciously revealed to them: they are bound to follow it ac- 
cording to what they are in their consciences persuaded is its 
true sense and meaning. And if for any secular interest they 
choose to comply with that which they are convinced is an 
important error, and is condemned in the scripture, they do 



230 



EXPOSITION OF 



A R r. plainly shew that they prefer lands, houses^ and life, to the 
authority of God, in whose will, when revealed to them, they 
are bound to acquiesce. , 

The only difficulty remaining is concerning those who never 
heard of this religion ; whether, or how, can they be saved ? 
St. Paul having divided the world into Jews and Gentiles, 
called by him those who were in the law, and who were with- 

Rorn.ii.i2, out law ; lic says, those who sinned without law,^ that is, out 
of the Mosaical dispensation, ^ shall be judged without law,^ 
that is, upon another foot. For he adds, when ^ the Gentiles, 
which have not the law, do by nature the things contained in 
the law (that is, the moral parts of it), these, having not the 
law, are a law unto themselves (that is, their consciences are 
to them instead of a written law); which shew the work of the 
law written in their hearts, their conscieiice also bearing wit- 
ness, and their thoughts the meanwhile accusing or else ex- 
cusing one another.^ This uxiplies that there are either see^sf 
of knowledge and virtue laid in the nature of man, or th^i 
such notions pass among them, as are carried down by tradi- 

Rom.x.H. tion. The same St. Paul says, How can they call on him in 
whom they have not beheved ? and how can they believe in 
him of whom they have not heard ? and hoAV can they he^^ 
without a preacher ?^ which seems plainly to intimate, thqt| 
men cannot be bound to believe, and by consequence cannot 
be punished for not beheving, unless the gospel is preached 

Acts X. 34, to them. St. Peter said to Cornelius, '^ Of a truth I perceive 
that God is no respecter of persons; but in every nation he 
that feareth God, and worketh righteousness, is accepted of 
him.^ Those places seem to import, that those who make 
the best use they can of that small measure of hght that is 
given them, shall be judged according to it ; and that Go4 
will not require more of them than he has given them. Thi^ 
also agrees so Avell with the ideas which we have both of jus- 
tice and goodness, that this opinion wants not special colours 
to make it look well. But, on the other hand, the pardon of 
sin, and the favour of God, are so positively limited to the 
believing in Christ Jesus, and it is so expressly said, that 

Acts iv. 12. ^ there is no salvation in any other;' and that ' there is, 
none other name (or authority) under heaven given among^ 
men, whereby we must be saved;;' that the distinction whic^^ 
can only be made in this matter is this, that it is only on tlii^j 
account, and in the consideration of the death of Christ, tha% 
sin is pardoned, and men are saved. 

This is the only sacrifice in the sight of God ; so that who- 
soever are received into mercy have it through Christ as tlie 
channel and conveyance of it. But it is not so plainly saiH^, 
that, no man can be saved unless he has an explicit knowle4g|?i^ 
of this, together with a belief in it. Few in the old dispensa- 
tion could have that : infants and innocents, or idiots, have it 
not ; and yet it were a bold thing to say, that they may not 



THE XXXIX ARTICLES. 



231 



be saved'by itt. Sdi *it 'do^ii''fiOt appear to be clearly revealed, ART. 
that none should be saved by the death of Christy unless they 
do explicitly both know it, and believe in it : since it is cer- 
taih, that God inay pardon sin only upon that score, without 
obliging all nien to believe in it, especially when it is not re- 
vealed to them. And here another distinction is to be made, 
which will clear this whole matter, and all the difficulties that 
ariffe out of it. 

■ ''jA great difference is to bemade between a foederal certainty 
of - salvation, secured by the promises of God, and of this 
new covenant in Christ Jesus, and the extent to which the 
goodness and mercy of God may go. None are in the foede- 
ral state of salvation but Christians : to them is given the cove- 
nant of grace, and to them the promises of God are made and 
offered; so that they have a certainty of it upon their per- 
forming those conditions that are put in the promises. All 
others are out of this promise, to whom the tidings of it were 
never brought ; but yet a great difference is to be made be- 
tween them, and those who have been invited to this covenant, 
and admitted to the outward profession, and the common pri- 
vileges of it, and that yet have in effect rejected it: these are 
under such positive demmciations of wrath and judgment, 
that therie is no room left for any charitable thoughts or hopes 
concerning them : so that if any part of the gospel is true, that 
must be also true, that they are under condemnation, for 
^ having loved darkness more than light,^ when the light shone john iii. 
upon them, and visited them. But as for them whom God 19. 
has left in darkness, they are certainly out of the covenant, 
out of those promises and declarations that are made in it. 
So that they have no foederal right to be saved, neither can 
we affirm that they shall be saved ! but, on the other hand, 
fhey are not under those positive denunciations, because they 
were never made to them: therefore since God has not de- 
clared that they shall be damned, no more ought we to take 
upon us to damn them. 

Instead of stretching the severity of justice by an inference, 
we may rather venture to stretch the mercy of God, since 
that is the attribute which of all others is the most magnifi- 
cently spoken of in the scriptures : so that we ought to think 
of it in the largest and most comprehensive manner. But 
indeed the most proper way is, for us to stop where the reve- 
lation of God stops; and not to be wise beyond what is writ- 
ten ; but to leave the secrets of God as mysteries too far above 
us to examine, of to sound their depth. We do certainly know 
on what terms we ourselves shall be saved or damned : and 
we ought to be contented with that, and rather study to work 
out our own salvation with fear and trembling,^ than to let our 
minds run out into uncertain speculations concerning the mea- 
sures and the conditions of God^s uncovenanted mercies: we 
ought to take aU possible care that we ourselves come not into 



232 



AN EXPOSITION OF 



A R T. condemnation^ rather than to define positively of others^ who 

xvni. must^ or who must not^ be condemned. 

It is therefore enough to fix this according to the design of 
the Article^ that it is not free to men to choose at pleasure 
what religion they will^ as if that were left to them^ or that aU 
religions were alike ; Avhich strikes at the foundation, and un- 
dermines the truth, of all revealed rehgion. None are within 
the covenant of grace but true Christians ; and all are excluded 
out of it, to whom it is offered, who do not receive and believe 
it, and live according to it. So, in a word, all that are saved, 
are saved through Christ ; but whether all these shall be called 
to the explicit knowledge of him, is more than we have any 
good ground to affirm. Nor are we to go into that other ques- 
tion ; whether any that are only in a state of nature, live fully 
up to its light? This is that about which we can have no cer- 
tainty, no more than whether there may be a common grace 
, given to them all, proportioned to their state, and to the obliga- 
tions of it. This in general may be safely beheved, that God 
wiU never be wanting to such as do their utmost endeavours 
in order to the saving of their souls : but that, as in the case 
of Cornelius, an angel will be sent, and a miracle b^ wrought, 
rather than such a person shall be left to perish. But whether 
any of them do ever arrive at that state, is more than we can 
determine ; and it is a vain attempt for us to endeavour to find 
it out. J 

-inociOB ^flOigiisi to toiaaa^m lo s^hui ha& smm^xs oi Jrigi/o 8W 
sw li to I QY&d 8w ififfi Bm§bn| lo x^l^^oal beta id^il adi oi gni 

nomiaros bm sxijJ-rhog Hod m diod .-gabrsd ,^I^o^rgidmB ei dotudo Blow sdT * * 

"Jol i iaei&tih tedwemoe ,898n93 atsvib ,9a,. 
as I dowdfi B he nrfO lo itrnqmoQ to xidcaezss x^b ssmhsmoB .Ul ' 

jxilisg i-^slU**, . _ 32ijo,d a liox/a «l i^otw^a % absta ss aoijnsra nsrfw 

» u ^y^M sssu-a ^^b-^^z ^ta sta^j 

dold-- : e-(& ..B^dowdo edi Ob ^zadowda Qd} \ atiKis^jt^ a daue 

fesiKn-ii^ ii^u:-^ z : s Sii otadi i&di ^dsias KSM-fcj^D .18 Ii0£t6n 

m ladid-goi bdaidmoo BQiieioos -XBlxioitisq eisvib lo aoliodlloo isg 
'^"^ ^ ~ V ; ~ ~ ^''^ nm-'avo^ noxiixnoo b lo aoxiQuftni hm aoiioQi? 

iud-i Qdi BB ■ doiudo B hQcmsi zi ^hdo 
§'%iw.\ld&6oiq ^tzihU 4oid^'io doBB , . \ 
ss.cxiv ^^^-^ ii^ , ^loxfj oi bsxsxxnB anwoj 839I lo asioxrgbngqgf) giiivfiii ^mii 

sdt 19J1b noo3 ^9V9woif tod { ssofilq 980£fJ lo ^(I9i7€f39'xq biiB aqorfaicf 9iJt lo siso 9x1? 

,S9ilo-xxjxfo bonisn 9i9w ba& ,9*i9w SnoxlosIIoo xloxxa Ud^ rxi - 
tjd^ aaaloiq ^smh lo aa-xxfoo ni 10 ^Jxioagiq jb odw oaoif.': 

^ .T J 8aox§il9i TOdio Ite 

.5 ijOiJ to ^hod siodw srTT ,tird * 
oi bho77 9dt lo gnmar^ed odl xno" 

nit bavt^' ' •■ . - -^U,^ 

5 890«sx«*tdh9q 5 *f 
^iisvl5 art; , 
liii iU aai.uoasiXj a ioi^B i qoxiaid bxxjj j .XI ,.nA %hoB'0 Bdi no jaofctjsy i 



THE XXXIX ARTICLES. 233 



) mJiaoq QaAob oi nmU tnun^ , : ART. 

ifirii 10 ^rasffi r^e 4.^. ni t. '^^^^^ Y^^^^ noi^il9i iwii ^ 

lui bfm ,/Toi^BbfTf;o^ ■: i^nurcn. 

-^nw .!?rfr'i';Fi' ' 

TOible Cj^urc]^* of Ci^xiilt tsl a Congregatton of fattl^ful p[fn, 
m t!)e iuJ;ic5 tj^e pure OTovtJ of (©otr preari^ctf, an^^ tje 
^acratmntiJ fie lful» atimmiigtm^ accortrms to €f)vkV^ (BxtiU 
Maiixct^ in all ti)iiSs tjing^ ti)at of nta^^itv are requtigite to tje 
sfame* 

^£1 tj^e Ci^urcl) of Jerusalem, Alexandria^ autf Antioch, ]^abe erretf, 
1^0 aliSo ti^e €i)uvd) of Rome f}ati) erreU, not onlp in it)tiv Iibins 
antr manner of Ceremontei^, but alsio in matteriS of dFatt^. 

TOre Article^ together with some that follow it^ relates to the 
fundamental ditference between us and the church of Rome : 
they teaching that we are to judge of doctrines by the autho- 
rity and the decisions of the church ; whereas we affirm^ that 
we are first to examine the doctrine^ and according to that to 
judge of the purity of a church. Somewhat was already said 
on the sixth Article relating to this matter : what remains is 
now to be considered. 

The whole question is to be reduced to this pointy whether 
we ought to examine and judge of matters of religion^ accord- 
ing to the light and faculty of judging that we have ; or if we 

* * The word church is ambiguous, having, both in holy scripture and common 
use, divers senses, somevehat different : for 

' 1st. Sometimes any assembly or company of Christians is called a chm'ch ; as 
when mention is made of the church in such a house (whence Tertullian gaith, where 
there are three, even laics, there is a church ). 

' 2d. Sometimes a particular society of Christians, living in spiritual commu- 
nion, and under discipline ; as when, the church at such a town ; the churches of 
such a "province ; the churches, all the churches, are mentioned : according to which 
notion St. Cyprian saith, that there is a church, where there is a people united 
to a priest, and a jhck adhering to their shepherd : and so Ignatius saith, that with- 
out the orders of the clergy a chirch is not called. 

' 3d. A larger collection of divers particular societies combined together in 
order, under direction and influence of a common government, or of persons acting 
in the public behalf, is termed a church: as the church of Antioch, of Corinth, of 
Jerusalem, &c., each of which, at first, probably might consist of divers congrega- 
tions, having dependencies of less towns annexed to them ; all being united under 
the care of the bishops and presbytery of those places ; but however soon after the 
apostles' times, it is certain that such collections were, and were named churches. 

' 4th. The society of those who at present, or in course of time, profess the 
faith and gospel of Christ, and undertake the evangelical covenant, in distinction 
to all other religions ; particularly to that of the Jews ; which is called the syna- 
gogue. 

' 5th. The whole body of God's people that is, ever hath been, or ever shall be, 
from the beginning of the world to the consummation thereof, who, having (for- 
mally or virtually) believed in Christ, and sincerely obeyed God's laws, shall 
finally, by the meritorious performances and sufferings of Christ, be saved, is called 
the church.' — Barrow on the Unity of the Chirch. The reader ought also to con- 
sult ' Pearson on the Creed,' Art. IX. ; and Bishop Taylor's discourse ' Of the 
Chvirch,' &c.— [Ed.1 



234 



AN EXPOSITION OF 



ART. are bound to submit in all things to the decision of the church ? 
Here the matter must be determined against private judgment^ 
by very express and clear authorities, othei^dse the other side 
proves itself. For we having naturally a faculty of judging 
for ourselves, and using it in all other things, this freedom 
being the greatest of all our other rights, must be still asserted, 
unless it can be made appear that God has in some things put 
a bar upon it by his supreme authority. 

That authority must be very express, if we are required to 
submit to it in a point of such vast importance to us. We do 
also see that men are apt to be mistaken, and are apt hkewise 
willingly to mistake, and to mislead others ; and that particu- 
larly in matters of religion the world has been so much imposed^ 
upon and abused, that we cannot be bound to submit to any 
sort of persons implicitly, without very good and clear grounds 
that do assure us of their infallibility : otherwise we have just 
reason to suspect that in matters of religion, chiefly in points 
in which human interests are concerned, men may eithef 
through ignorance, and weakness, or corruption, and on desigiij^ 
abuse and mislead us. So that the authorities or proofs of 
this infallibility must be very express ; since we are sure nb 
man nor body of men can have it among them, but by a prip, 
vilege from God; and a privilege of so extraordinary anaturi^ 
must be given, if at all, in very plain, and with very evident 
characters ; since without these human nature cannot am,4, 
ought not to be so tame as to receive it. We must not draw 
it from an inference, because we think we need it, and cannot 
be safe without it, that therefore it must be so, because, ift^y;* 
were not so, great disorders would arise from the want of i#i 
This is certainly a wrong way of arguing. If God has clearly 
revealed it, we must acquiesce in it, because we are sure, if h^e 
has lodged infallibility any where, he will certainly maintcdd" 
his own work, and not require us to believe any one implicitljf^' 
and not at the same time preserve us from the danger of beiiiag 
deceived by him. But we must not presume, from our notions 
of things, to give rules to God. It were, as we may think, ve||J, 
necessary that miracles should be publicly done from time 
time, for convincing every age and succession of men; and th^t 
good men should be so assisted as generally to live without 
sin: these and several other things pay seem to us extremely 
convenient, and even necessary ; but things are not so ordered 
for all that.''* It is also certain, that if God has lodged snc|^J 

* This is one of the chief arguments in favour of infallibility on which the Ro- 
manist erects his building. He first coti eludes that there must be a living, speak- 
ing, infallible judge in the church ; and then wisely, and not less modestly, conj 
eludes in favout of his pope, or popie and councils. In his reply to Cressy, Whit|i^^ 
thus answers this assumption: 

* He, through the whole chapter, slily supposes, and sometimes asserts, a neces-*; 
sity of an infallible judge, as if without such a one the way to salvation were un-.' 
certain, and controversies endless. 

' 1 . But he should first prove, that God hath appointed an infallible judge, and 
therefore it is necessary there should be one, and not conclude that he hath ap- 



THE XXXIX ARTICLES. 



235 



an infallibility on earth, it ought not to be in such hands as ART. 
do naturally heighten our prejudices against it. It wiU go' 
against the grain to believe it, though all outw^ard appearances 
looked ever so fair for it: but it will be an inconceivable 
method of Providence, if God should lodge so wonderful an 
authorit)^ in hands that look so very unhke it, that of all others 
we should the least expect to find it with them. 

If they have been guilty of notorious impostures, to support 
their own authority, if they have committed great violences to 
extend it, and have been for some ages together engaged in as 
many false, unjust, and cruel practices, as are perhaps to be 
met with in any history ; these are such prejudices, that at 
least they must be overcome by very clear and unquestionable: 
proofs: and finally, if God has settled such a power in his 



polftfed one, because he conceives a necessity of it. I could name a hundred pri- ' 
vileges, that Mr. C. could conceive to be highly beneficial to the church, which- 
yet God never granted to it; and if we may deduce infallibility from the necessity) 
or convenience of it to secure us in our way to heaven, and decide our controverf-, 
sies, then why may we not conclude, that somebody else beside your pope and 
council is infallible? Is it not more conducive to these ends, that every bishop - 
should be infallible? more still, that every preacher? and more yet, that every' 
individual Christian ? Would not these infallibly secure them from all danger of-, 
erring ? Might not God send some infallible interpreter from heaven to expound 
all otecure and doubtful places of scripture? Might not the apostles have left us' 
such a commentary? Might not God (if he had pleased) have spoken so perspk; 
cuously in scripture, that there should be no need of an infallible interpreter to 
make it plainer ? But if from the advantage and use of these dispensations we 
should infer their actual existence, the conclusion would confute the premises. 

' 2. The plea for an infallible guide, to secure us from wandering out of the 
way to heaven, is invalidated by the plainness and easiness of the way, which we 
cannot miss unless we will ; so that he who will keep his eyes open, is in no more 
danger of losing his way than in the walks of his own garden ; for we know the 
conditions which God hath made necessary to salvation are clear and easy, unless! 
God should bind us upon pain of damnation fully to know and believe articles ob- 
scure and ambiguous, and so damn men for not believing that, the truth whereof, 
they could not discover, which is highly repugnant both to his revealed goodness' 
and justice. We, therefore, distinguish between points fundamental and points not ' 
fundamental, those being clearly revealed, and so of a necessary belief; to deter- 
mine their sense, there is no more need of a judge, than for any other perspicuous" 
truth. What need of a judge to decide whether scripture affirms that there is btPt" ' 
one God ? that this God cannot lie ? that Jesus was crucified and rose again ? that 
without faith and obedience we cannot come to heaven ? These, and such like, are 
the truths we entitle fundamental, and if the sense of these need an infallible 
judge, then let us bring Euclid's elements to the bar, and call for a judge to deeidej 
whether twice two make four. Then for points not fundamental, their belief beings 
not absolutely necessary to salvation, we may err about them, and not err damna*^ 
bly, and so this plea for an infallible judge is wholly evacuated. And Ivith no 
more difficulty may we baffle the other, taken from its necessity to determine con-; 
troversies; for if any man oppose fundamental doctrines, of any other evideiit^ 
truths, our church can censure him, without pretending to be infallible. What need 
of an infallible judge to convict him of heresy, that shall deny the resurrection jji 
the dead? (which yet some of your own popes have not believed, if some of yoi^%j 
own historians may be believed.) Therefore, doctrines not fundamental, being,| 
not clearly revealed, our church doth not take upon her to determine these, but If 3 
any disputes arise about such points, it is her work to silence and suppress them^^i 
and when she gives her judgment of that side she thinks most probable, though 
she doth not expect that all her children should be so wise as to be of her opinion, ^ 
yet she expects they should be so modest, as not to contradict her, which .is,'^ 
as effectually, jay^jj^a|)lejj;c^,_e^^ as is your pretended infallibility.' 



236 



AN EXPOSITION OF 



ART. church, we must be distinctly directed to those in whose hands 
it is put, so that we may fall into no mistake in so important 
a matter. This will be the more necessary, if there are different 
pretenders to it : we cannot be supposed to be bound to believe 
an infallibility in general, unless we have an equal evidence 
directing us to those with whom it rests, and who have the 
dispensing of it. These general considerations are of great 
weight in deciding this question, and will carry us far into some 
preliminaries, which will appear to be indeed great steps to- 
wards the conclusion of the matter. 

There are three ways by which it may be pretended that 
infallibility can be proved : the one is the way of Moses and 
the prophets, of Christ and his apostles, who, by clear and un- 
questionable miracles publicly done, and well attested, or by 
express and circumstantiated prophecies of things to come, that 
came afterwards to be verified, did evidently demonstrate that 
they were sent of God : wheresoever we see such characters, 
and that a miracle is wrought by men who say they are sent of 
God, which cannot be denied nor avoided ; and if what such 
persons deliver to us is neither contrary to our ideas of God, 
and of morality, nor to any thing already revealed by God ; 
there we must conclude that God has lodged an infallible au- 
thority with them, as long and as far as that character ds 
stamped upon it. 

That is not pretended here : for though they study to per- 
suade the world that miracles are still among them, yet they 
do not so much as say that the miracles are wrought by those 
with whom this infallibility is lodged, and that they are 
done to prove them to be infallible. For though God should 
bestow the gift of miracles upon some particular persons 
among them, that is no more an argument that their church 
is infallible, than the miracles that Elijah or Elisha wrought 
were arguments to prove that the Jewish church was infal- 
lible. Indeed the public miracles that belonged to the whole 
body, such as the cloud of glory, the answers by the Urim 
and Thummim, the trial of jealousy, and the constant plenty 
of the sixth year, as preparatory to the sabbatical year, seem 
more reasonably to infer an infallibility ; because these were 
given to that whole church and nation.* But yet the Jewish 

* This line of argument, here alluded to by our author, is the most easy and 
satisfactory answer to the absurd pretence of the papal church to infallibility. 
They cannot urge any one scripture from the New Testament containing promises 
to the Christian church (which too they unwarrantably limit to themselves), to which 
the Jew cannot reply by the production of similar, and, in some instances, much 
more enlarged promises made to his church. If, for instance, the man who refuses 
to hear the church is to be accounted a heathen and publican, (Matt, xviii. 17.) 
the man that did pi'esumptuously, and would not hearken to the Jewish priest, was 
commanded to be put to death. (Deut. xvii. 12.) The same argument will hold 
good in all the other scriptures advanced by the papal church in her behalf. Now, 
although they have no right to appeal to scripture until the authority and in- 
fallibility of their church be first proved, since, according to their doctrine, it is 
the peculiar province of the Roman church to, in the first place, decide what is 



THE XXXIX ARTICLES. 



237 



cliurch was far from being infallible all that while ; for we see ART. 
they fell all in a body into idolatry upon several occasions : 

scripture, and in the second, what is the meaning or sense of any particular verse 
or passage — yet, giv'ing them full permission to make use of that book which they 
are so prone to insult by calling it obscure, insufficient, and a dead letter — ^what do 
they prove ? The infallibility of the Jewish church ! ' For if,' writes Dr. Whitby, 
' Roman Catholics conclude from these ambiguous and obscure places for the in- 
fallibility of councils, or the major part of the chui'ch-guides concurring with the 
pope in any sentence or decree, although these places do not speak one syllable of 
any pope or major part of the church-guides, and much less of the Romish prelates, 
and less of their infallible assistance; what ovations and triumphs would they have 
made, had it been said expressly of their cardinals and councils, as it is said of 
Jewish priests, that they were set for judgment and for controversy ? had God fixed 
bis glorious presence at Rome, as he did at Jerusalem, and settled there a seat of 
judgment, and a continual court of highest judicature, as was that Sanhedrin, which 
in Jerusalem was settled? had he dwelt in St. Peter's, as he dwelt in the temple? 
had he left with them, as he did with the Jewish priests, a standing oracle, a tlrim 
and a Thummim, to consult with upon all occasions? So that this plea being much 
stronger for the infallibility of the superiors of the Jewish church, than for the in- 
fallibility of the whole western church, or any of its councils, the Roman doctors 
must acknowledge, either that they fallaciously urge it against Protestants, or must 
confess that it stands also good against the Christian, and is a confirmation of all 
those traditions which were condemned by our Saviour, and a sufficient plea for all 
those errors and corruptions, which, as the prophets do complain, were generally 
taught and practised by the church-guides in the declining ages of the Jewish 
church : for if these arguments be good now, they were so then ; and if they were 
good then, for aught that I can see, the high-priest, and the major part of the 
church rulers of the Jews, were alwaj's in the right ; and Christ, and his apostles, 
with the holy prophets, must be in the wrong. 'f 

To avoid the force of this argument, which so completely turns the weapons of 
the papacy against itself, some of that party have devised this reply— more inge- 
nious than solid or satisfactory : That the Jewish church was infallible, but that 
its infallibility disappeared and centred in the Lord Jesus Christ, the greater au- 
thority, when he appeared on earth. To this argument, if it can be called one, 
of which the Editor has known, indeed heard, priests of the Roman church avail 
themselves, the answer is easy, and more than ever shews the difficulties in which 
they, who use it, are placed. 1st. The Jewish church did sin in matters funda- 
mental before the coming of Christ — ' They err in vision, they stumble in judg- 
ment,' ' and the prophets prophesy falsely, and the priests bear rule by their means,' 
was the testimony of God concerning the church-guides, Apostacy from the truth 
arid idolatry were sins of the Jewish church. But, 2d., if they were infallible until the 
appearing of the Saviour on earth, which the Bible proves that they were not, how 
were the people assured of the departure of this high privilege from their own 
church-guides (whom they were to obey under pain of death), and of its lodg- 
ment in the Lord Jesus? This is the point. How did the Saviour convince them? 
By his doctrine and by miracles. The former was an appeal to their private 
judgment — the latter to their senses ; and if these be allowed, the papal system 
against the right of private judgment, and in favour of transubstantiation, is demo- 
iislied. Thus they cannot evade the force of this argument against infallibility 
without destroying their own building. We cannot but conclude this article in 
the words of Whitby : — ' If this be truly the result of the most specious pretences 
of the Roman party to draw our souls into their deadly snares, if all their fairest 
pleas do make for Judaism, more naturally than they do for popery ; if what they 
urge, to prove the Protestant divines to be deceivers of the people, doth more 
strongly prove our blessed Jesus a deceiver, which is the highest blasphemy ; I 
hope that no true lover of this Jesus will be much tempted by such pleas to enter- 
tain a good opinion of the Romish faith : it being certainly that faith, which can- 
not be established but on the ruins of Christianity, nor embraced by any Protestant, 
but with the greatest hazard, if not the ruin, of his soul.'— [En.] 

f Whitby : Sermon on Johnvii. 47 — 49, which every student ought not merely 
to read, but well digest. It is to be found in his Commentary, at; tl^ end of the 
.gospel of St. John. ooiii/ory iBib^'i'^ v 



238 



AN EXPOSITION OF 



A R T. those public miracles proved nothing but that for which they 
were given^ which was, that Moses was sent of God, and that his 
law was from God, which they saw was still attested in a con- 
tinuance of extraordinary characters. If infallibility had been 
promised by that law, then the continuance of the miracles 
might have been urged to prove the continuance of the infaUi- 
bilityi ; but that not being promised, the miracles were Oidy 
a standing proof of the authority of their laWj and of Gbd^s 
being' still among them. And thus though we should not 
dispute the truth of the many legends that some are daily 
bringing forth, which yet we may well do, since they are 
believed to be true by few among themselves, they being con- 
sidered among; the; greatei: part of the knowing men of that 
chmobpds brts teftote^fMnofete^)^^ and devotion of the 
p^ie^lepiitidvl)0(]wteaikTupomjt^ and hopes, bxit chiefly 

upQH? thfOr piitescrcall: Ik^ese^ I say, when confessed, will ndt 
smy^e to pi'Ove thai the#6 is an infallibility among them, unless 
they can prove that these nnracles are wrought to prove this 
infallibility. = i? 'rw'iq ■ 

The second sort of proofs that they may brin^,? is ftm 
some passages in scripture, that seem to import that it was 
given by Christ to the church. But though in this dispute 
all these passages ought to be well considered and answered, 
yet they ought not to be urged to prove this infallibility, till 
several other things are first proved ; such as^ that the scrip- 
tures are the word of God ; that the book of the scriptures is 
brought down pure and uncorrupted to our hands ; and that 
we are able to understand the meaning of it: for before we 
can argue from the parts of any book, as being of divine au- 
thority, all these things must be previously certain, and be 
well made out to us : so that we must i3e well assured of all 
those particulars^ before we may go about to prove any thing 
by any passages drawn out of the scriptures. Further, these 
passages suppose that those to whom this infallibility belongs 
are a church : we must then know what a church is, and what 
makes a body of men to be a church, before we can be sure 
that they are that society to whom this infallibility is gi^en : 
and since there may be, as we know that in fact there are^ 
great differences among several of those bodies of men called 
churches, and that they condemn one another as guilty of 
error, schism, and heresy ; we are sure that all these cannot 
be infallible : for contradictions cannot be true. So then we 
must know which of them is that society where this infalli- 
bility is to be found. And if in any one society there should 
be different opinions about the seat of this infallibility, those 
cannot be all true, though it is very possible that they may be 
all false : we must be then well assured in whom this great pri- 
vilege is vested, before we can be bound to acknowledge it, or 
to submit to it. So here a great many things must be known, 
before we can either argue from, or apply, those passages of 



THE X?SMX A^rriCLES. 



239 



scripture in which it is pretended that infalhbility is promised A R T. 
to the church: and if private judgment is to be trusted in 
the inquiries that arise about all these particulars, they being 
the most important and most difficult matters that we can 
search into, then it will be thought reasonable to trust it ye% 
much further-r^'j^'ivyri. 

It is evident,- by their proceeding this way, that both the 
authority and the sense of the scriptures must be loiown an- 
tecedently to our acknowledging the authority or the infalli- 
bihty of any church. For it is an eternal principle and rul^S 
of reason, never to prove one thing by another, till that other 
is first well proved : nor can any thing be proved afterwards 
by that which was proved by it. This is as impossible, as if 
a father should beget a son, and should be afterwards begotten 
by that son. Therefore the scriptures cannot prove the infal^ 
libilit^ of the - church, and be afterwards proved by the testi- 
mony ^ofrthe church. So the one or the other of these must 
be i first sfsttled andi proved, before any use can be made of it 
to prove the other by it. 

I ' The last way they take tO' find, out this church by, is from Bellar. 
some notes* that they pretend are peculiar to her, such as the J^^^g 
nsime catholic ; antiquity ; extent; duration ; succession of \^^' 
bishops ; union amon^ themselves, and with their head ; conh 
fm'mittj of doctrine ivith former times ; miracles ; prophecy ; 
sanctity of doctrine ; holiness of life ; temporal felicity ; curses 
upon their enemies ; \and a constant progress or efficacy of doc- 
trim ; together with' the confession of their adversaries-, and 
they fancy, that wheresoever we find these, we must believe 
that body of men to be infallible. But upon all this, endless 
questions will arise, so far will it be from ending controversies^ 
and settling us upon infallibility. If all these must be be^: 
liei^fed to be the marks of the infaUible church, upon the acit 
count of which we ought to believe it, and submit to it, then 
two inquiries upon every one of these notes must be discussed, 
before we can be obliged to acquiesce in the infallibility : First, 
whether that is a true mark of infallibility, or not? And next, 
whether it belongs to the church which they call infaUible, or 
not ? And then another very intricate question will arise upon 
the whole, whether they must be all found together ? or, how 
many, or which, of them together, will giyejMSi the .entire cha- 
racters of the infallible church ? tsd hm 

) discussing the questions, whether every one of these is 

* In order to the full understanding of this point, the reader must refer to 
Gibson's Preservative against Popery, vol. 1, in which ' the notes of the church as 
laid down by Cardinal Bellarmine are examined and confuted.' This examination 
of the notes, &c., may also be found in a small quarto, published in 1687, entitled 
' A brief Discourse concerning the Notes of the Church, with some Reflections on 
Cardinal Bellarmine's Notes.' The quarto edition contains also two papers not 
found in Gibson's collection; 'A Yindication of the discourse concerning the Notes ;' 
and ' A defence of the confuter of Bellarmine's second note of the church, Anti- 
quity, against the cavils of the adviser.'— [En.] 



240 



AN EXPOSITION OF 



A R T a true mark, or not, no use must be made of the scriptures 5 
for if the scriptures have their authority from the testimony, 
or rather the decisions, of the infaUible church, no use can be 
made of them till that is first fixed. Some of these notes are 
such as did not at all agree to the church in the best and 
purest times ; for then she had but a little extent, a short- 
lived duration, and no temporal felicity : and she was generally 
reproached l)y her adversaries. But out of which of these 
topics can one hope to fetch an assurance of the infallibility of 
such a body? Can no body of men continue long in a con- 
stant series, and with much prosperity, but must they be con- 
cluded to be infallible ? Can it be thought that the assuming 
a name can be a mark ? Why is not the name Christian as 
solemn as catholic? Might not the philosophers have con- 
cluded from hence against the first Christians, that they were, 
by the confession of all men, the true lovers of wisdom ; since 
they were called philosophers much more unanimously than 
the church of Rome is called catholic ? 

If a conformity of doctrine with former times, and a sanc- 
tity of doctrine, are notes of the church, these will lead men 
into inquiries of such a nature, that if they are once allowed 
to go so far with their private judgment, they may well be 
suffered to go much further. Some standard must be fixed 
on, by which the sanctity of doctrine may be examined ; they 
must also be allowed to examine what was the doctrine of 
former times : and here it will be natural to begin at the first 
times, the age of the apostles. It must therefore be first 
known what was the doctrine of that age, before we can 
examine the conformity of the present age with it. A suc- 
cession of bishops is confessed, to be still kept up among 
corrupted churches. An union of the church with its head 
cannot be supposed to be a note, unless it is first made out 
by some other topics, that this church must have a head ; and 
that he is infallil)le : for unless it is proved by some other 
argument that she ought to have a head, she cannot be bound 
to adhere to him, or to own him ; and unless it is also proved 
that he is infallible, she cannot be bound absolutely, and 
without restrictions, to adhere to him. Holiness of life can- 
not be a mark, unless it is pretended that those in whom the 
infaUibility is are all holy. A few holy men here and there 
are indeed an honour to any body ; but it will seem a strange 
inference, that because some few in a society are eminently 
holy, that therefore others of that body who are not so, but 
are perhaps as eminently vicious, should be infallible. Some- 
what has been already said concerning miracles : the pretence 
to prophecy falls within the same consideration ; the one being 
as wonderful a communication of omniscience, as the other is 
of omnipotence. For the confession of adversaries, or some 
curses on them ; these cannot signify much, unless they were 
universal. Fair enemies will acknowledge what is good among 



THE XXXIX ARTICLES. 



241 



their adversaries : but as that church is the least apt, of any A R l\ 
society we know, to speak good of those who differ from her, 
so she has not very much to boast as to others saying much 
good of her. And if signal providences have now and then 
happened, these are such things, and they are carried on with 
such a depth, that we must acquiesce in the observation of the 
wisest men of all ages, that ^the race is not to the swift, nor Eccl. ix. 
the battle to the strong: but that time and chance happeneth 
to all things.^ 

And thus it appears, that these pretended notes, instead of 
giving us a clear thread to lead us up to infallibility and to end 
all controversies, do start a great variety of questions, that en- 
gage us into a labyrinth, out of which it cannot be easy for 
any to extricate themselves. But if we could see an end of 
this, then a new set of questions will come on, when we go to 
examine all churches by them : Whether the church of Rome 
has them all ? And if she alone has them so, that no other 
church has them equally with her or beyond her ? 

If all these must be discussed before we can settle this ques- 
tion, which is the true infallible church ? a man must stay long 
ere he can come to a point in it. 

Therefore there can be no other way taken here, but to 
examine first, what makes a particular church : and then 
since the catholic church is an united body of all particular 
churches, when the true notion of a particular church is fixed, 
it will be easy from that to form a notion of the catholic 
church. 

It would seem reasonable by the method of all creeds, in 
particular of that called the Apostles' Creed, that we ought first 
to settle our faith as to the great points of the Christian reli- 
gion, and from thence go to settle the notion of a true church : 
and that we ought not to begin with the notion of a church, 
and from thence go to the doctrine. 

The doctrine of Christianity must be first stated, and from 
this we are to take our measures of all churches ; and that 
chiefly with respect to that doctrine, which every Christian is 
bound to believe : here a distinction is to be made between 
those capital and fundamental articles, without which a man 
cannot be esteemed a true Christian, nor a church a true 
church ; and other truths, which, being delivered in scripture, 
all men are indeed obliged to believe them, yet they are not 
of that nature that the ignorance of them, or an error in them, 
can exclude from salvation. 

To make this sensible : it is a proposition of another sort, 
that Christ died for sinners, than this, that he died at the third 
or at the sixth hour. And yet if the second proposition is 
expressly revealed in scripture, we are bound to believe it, 
since God has said it, though it is not of the same nature mth 
the other. 

Here a controversy does naturally arise that wise people are 

R 



242 



AN EXPOSITION OF 



21 



ART. unwilling to meddle with, what articles are fundamental, and 

XIX. what are not? ^ ^ «])ffpjg " ^{ -/re^." 'fV:-rt«>n"^ 

— The defining of fundamental articles seems, on me one Mn(^ 
t9t deny salvation to such as do not receive them all, whicn 
men are not willing to do. _ „ , ^ V. 

And, on the other hand, it may seem a leaving m|n /^t 
liberty, as to all other particulars that are not recKdnetf^.uj 
among the fundamentals. -vj 
But after all, the covenant of grace, the terms of salvation, 
and the grounds on which we expect it, seem to be things pj 
another nature than all other truths, which, though revealeS^ 
are not of themselves the means or conditions of salvation. 
Wheresoever true baptism is, there it seems the essentials of 
this covenant are preserved : for, if we look on baptism as a 
foederal admission into Christianity, there can be no baptism 
where the essence of Christianity is not preserved. As far 
then as we believe that any society has preserved that, so far 
we are bound to receive her baptism, and no further. For 
unless we consider baptism as a sort of a charm, that such 
words joined with a washing with water make one a Christian ; 
v/hich seems to be expressly contrary to what St. Peter says 
1 Pet. iii. of it, that ^it is not the w^ashing away the filth of the flesh, 
but the answer of a good conscience towards God, that saves 
us;' we must conclude, that baptism is a foederal thing, in 
which, after that the sponsions are made, the seal of regenqraP- 
tion is added. - ' 

From hence it will follow, that all wlio have a true baptism, 
that makes men believers and Christians, must also have the 
true faith as to the essentials of Christianity ; the fundamentals 
of Christianity seem to be all that is necessary to make bap- 
tism true and valid. And upon this a distinction is to be made, 
that will discover and destroy a sophism^ that is often used bij 
this occasion. A true church* is, in one sense, a society thdt 

* It is of vital importance that the controversialist should study this questiop, 
* What constilutes any church a true church ?' Many Protestants have, in their zeal 
without knowledge, denied the title of true church to the church of Rome, thereby 
entangling themselves in difficulties. If the papacy be not a true church, how, as 
Calvin asked, can Antichrist sit in the temple of God ? Or how, we might add, can 
she be charged with being the mother of harlots, if she have not some claim to be 
the bride ? Her sin is not that she directly denies or overturns the truth of Christ, but 
that she makes void his truth by adopting a new creed, thus indirectly and far mqre 
effectually overturning the foundation of faith. When Bishop Hall published hjs 
' Old Religion,' he was assailed by many as favouring popery, because he called the 
Roman a true church, they not knowing, or not considering, the exact meaning of 
the word true ; nor what an advantage is given to the enemy by denying the Roman 
to be a church. Hall submitted the matter to his friend Bishop Davenant, who re- 
turned the following answer, in which the question is handled in a concise and ijaas- 
terly manner, and for which the Editor is indebted to the Rev. J. Allport's valuable 
life of Davenant, prefixed to his translation of that bishop's exposition of the Episde 
to the Colossians. 

' To the Right Rev. Father in God, Joseph, Lord Bishop of Exon, these. 
* My Lord, 

' You desire my opinion concerning an assertion of yours, whereat some have 
taken offence. . . ■< 

' The proposition was this, " That the Roman church remains yet a true visible 
church." 



THE XXXIX ARTICLES. 



243 



preserves the essentials and fundamentals of Christianity : in ART. 
another sense it stands for a society, all whose doctrines are 
true, that has corrupted no part of this religion, nor mixed any 
errors with it. A true man is one who has a soul and a body, 
that are the essential constituents of a man : whereas, in an- 
other sense, a man of sincerity and candour is called a true 
man. Truth in the one sense imports the essential constitu- 
tion, and in the other it imports only a quality that is acci- 
dental to it. So when we acknowledge that any society is a 
ti'ue churchj we ought to be supposed to mean no other, than 

' The occasion, vvhicli makes this an ill-sounding proposition in the ears of Pro- 
testants, especially such as are not thoroughly acquainted with school distinctions, 
is the usual acceptation of the word " true" in our English tongue ; for, though 
men skilled in metaphysics hold it for a maxim, Ens, Verum, Bonum convertuntur ; 
yet, with us, he, which shall affirm such a one is a true Christian, a true gentleman, 
a true scholar, or the like, he is conceived not only to ascribe trueness of being unto 
all these, but those due qualities or requisite actions whereby they are made com- 
mendable or praiseworthy in their several kinds. In this sense the Roman church 
is no more a true church in respect of Christ, or those due qualities and proper 
actions which Christ requires, than an arrant whore is a true and loyal wife unto 
her husband. 

' I durst, upon mine oath, be one of your compurgators, that you never intended 
to adorn that strumpet with the title of a true church in this meaning. But your 
own writings have so fully cleared you herein, that suspicion itself cannot reason- 
ably suspect you on this point. 

• I therefore can say no more respecting your mistaken proposition, than this : If, 
in that treatise wherein it was delivered, the antecedents or consequents were such 
as served fitly to lead the reader into that sense, which under the word true com- 
prehended only truth of Being or Existence, and not the due qualities of the thing 
or subject, you have been causelessly traduced. But, on the other side, if that pro- 
position comes ex abrupto, or stands solitary in your discourse, you cannot marvel 
though, by taking the word true according to the more ordinary acceptation, your 
true meaning was mistaken. 

' In brief, your proposition admits a true sense ; and, in that sense, is, by the 
learned in our reformed church, not disallowed : for, the being of a church does 
rincipally stand upon the gracious action of God, calling men out of darkness and 
eath unto the participation of light and life in Christ Jesus. So long as God 
continues this calling unto any people, though they as much as in them lies, 
darken this light, and corrupt the means which should bring them to light and sal- 
vation in Christ ; yet, when God calls men unto the participation of life in Christ 
by the word and by the sacrament, there is the true being of a Christian church, 
let men be never so false in their exposition of God's word, or never so untrusty 
in mingling their own traditions with God's ordinances. 

• Thus, the church of the Jews lost not her being of a church when she became 
an idolatrous church. 

' And thus, under the government of the Scribes and Pharisees, who voided the 
commandments of God by their own traditions, there v/as yet standing a true 
church, in which Zacharias, Elizabeth, the Virgin Mary, and our Saviour himself 
was born, who were members of that church, and yet participated not in the cor- 
ruptions thereof. 

' Thus, to grant that the Roman was, and is, a true visible Christian church, 
though in doctrine a false, and in practice an idolatrous church, is a true assertion ; 
and of greater use and necessity in our controversy with papists about the perpetuity 
of the Christian church, than is understood by those who gainsay it. 

' This, in your Reconciler, is so well explicated, as, if any shall continue in tra- 
ducing you in regard of that proposition so explained, I think it will be only those, 
who are better acquainted with wrangling than reasoning, and deeper in love with 
strife than truth. And, therefore, be no more troubled with other men's ground- 
less suspicions, than you would be in like case with their idle dreams. Thus I have 
enlarged myself beyond my first intent. But my love ta yourself, and the assu- 
rance of your constant love unto the truth, enforced me thereunto. I I'est always, 
your loving brother, 

'Jan. 30, 1628. John S arum.'— [Ed.] 

R 2 



244 



AN EXPOSITION OF 



ART. that the covenant of grace in its essential constituent parts is 
preserved entire in that body ; and not that it is true m all 
its doctrines and decisions. ,1 

The second thing to be considered in a church is^ their af^ 
sociation together in the use of the sacraments. For these ar^^ 
given by Christ to the society^ as the rites and badges of that 
body. That which makes particular men believers^ is theif 
receiving the fundamentals of Christianity : so that which 
constitutes the body of the churchy is the profession of that 
faith^ and the use of those sacraments^, which are the rites an4 
distinctions of those who profess it. 

In this likewise a distinction is to be made between what 
is essential to a sacrament^ and what is the exact observance 
of it according to the institution. Additions to the sacraments 
do not annul them^ though they corrupt them with that adul- 
terate mixture. Therefore where the sponsions are madcj, and 
a washing with water is used with the words of Christy there 
we own that there is a true baptism : though there may be a 
large addition of other rites^ which we reject as superstitious^ 
though we do not pretend that they null the baptism. But if 
any part of the institution is cut off, there we do not own the 
sacrament to be true: because it being an institution of Christy 
it can no more be esteemed a true sacrament^ than as it retains 
all that^ which by the institution appears to be the main and 
essential part of the action. 

Upon this account it is^ that since Christ appointed bread 
and wine for his other sacrament^ and that he not only blessed 
both, but distributed both, with words appropriated to each 
kind, we do not esteem that to be a true sacrament, in wMch 
either the one or the other of these kinds is withdrawn. ^ ,rmiS 

But in the next place, there may be many things necessary^ 
in the way of precept and order, both with relation to the 
sacraments, and to the other public acts of worship, in which 
though additions or defects are erroneous and faulty, yet they 
do not annul the sacraments. i[j 

We think none ought to baptize but men dedicated to the\ 
service of God, and ordained according to that constitution 
that was settled in the church by the apostles ; and yet bap- 
tism by laics, or by women, such as is most commonly prac- 
tised in the Roman church, is not esteemed null by us, nor is 
it repeated : because we make a diiference between what is 
essential to a sacrament, and what is requisite in the regular 
way of using it. 

None can deny this among us, but those who will question 
the whole Christianity of the Roman church, where the mid- 
wives do generally baptize : but if this invalidates the baptism, 
then we must question all that is done among them : persons 
so baptized, if their baptism is void, are neither truly ordained, 
nor capable of any other act of church-communion. Therefore 
men^s being in orders, or their being duly ordained, is not 



THE XXXIX ARTICLES. 245 



necessary to the essence of the sacrament of baptism^ but only ART. 
to the regularity of admmistering it: and so the want of it 
does not void it, but does only prove such men to be under 
some defects and disorder in their constitution. 

Thus I have laid down those distinctions that will guide us 
in the right understanding of this Article. If we believe that 
any society retains the fundamentals of Christianity, we do 
from that conclude it to be a true church, to have a true bap- 
tism, and the members of it to be capable of salvation. But 
we are not upon that bound to associate ourselves to their 
communion : for if they have the addition of false doctrines, 
or any unlawful parts of worship among them, we are not 
bound to join in that which we are persuaded is error, idolatry, 
or superstition. 

If the sacraments that Christ has appointed are observed 
and ministered by any church as to the main of them, accord- 
ing to his institution, we are to own those for valid actions : 
but we are not for that bound to join in communion with 
them, if they have adulterated these with many mixtures and 
additions. 

Thus a plain difference is made between our owning that a 
church may retain the fundamentals of Christianity, a true' 
baptism, and true orders, which are a consequent upon the; 
former, and our joining with that church in such acts as we^' 
think are so far vitiated, that they become unlawful to us to- 
do them. Pursuant to this, we do neither repeat the baptism, 
nor the ordinations, of the church of Rome : we acknowledge; 
that our forefathers were both baptized and ordained in that{ 
communion : and we derive our present Christianity or bap-^ 
tism, and our orders, from thence : yet we think that there 
were so many unlawful actions, even in those rituals, besides 
the other corruptions of their worship, that we cannot join in' 
such any more. ^ 

The being baptized in a church does not tie a man to every^ 
thing in that church; it only ties him to the covenant of grace.-^ 
The stipulations which are made in baptism, as well as in 
ordination, do only bind a man to the Christian faith, or td=^ 
the faithful dispensing of that gospel, and of those sacraments,-' 
of which he is made a minister: so he who, being convinced' 
of the errors and corruptions of a church, departs from them, 
and goes on in the purity of the Christian rehgion, does pur- 
sue the true effect both of his baptism, and of his ordination 
vows. For these are to be considered as ties upon him only 
to God and Christ, and not to adhere to the other dictates of 
that body in which he had his birth, baptism, and ordination. 

The great objection against all this is, that it sets up a pri- 
vate judgment, it gives particular persons a right of judging 
churches : whereas the natural order is, that private persons 
ought to be subject and obedient to the church. 

This must needs feed pride and curiosity, it must break al 



246 



AN EXPOSITION OF 



A II T. order^ and cast all things loose^ if every single man^ according 
to his reading and presumption, will judge of churches and 
communions. 

On this head it is very easy to employ a great deal of popu- 
lar eloquence, to decry private men's examining of scriptures, 
and forming their judgments of things out of them, and not 
submitting all to the judgment of the church. But how ab^ 
surd soever this may seem, all parties do acknowledge that it 
must be done. 

Those of the church of Rome do teach, that a man bom in 
the Greek church, or among us, is bound to lay down his error, 
and his communion too, and to come over to them ; and yet 
they allow our baptism, as well as they do the ordinations of 
the Greek church. 

Thus they allow private men to judge, and that in so great 
a point, as what church and what communion ought to be 
chosen or forsaken. And it is certain, that to judge of churches 
and communions is a thing of that intricacy, that if private judg- 
ment is allowed here, there is no reason to deny it its full scopej 
as to all other matters. --'1 

God has given us rational faculties to guide and direct us ; 
and we must make the most of these that we can : we must 
judge with our own reasons, as well as see with our own eyes : 
neither can we, or ought we to resign up our understandings 
to any others, unless we are convinced that God has imposed 
this upon us, by his making them infallible, so that we are 
secured from error if we follow them. 

All this we must examine, and be well assured of it, other- 
wise it will be a very rash, unmanly, and base thing in us, to 
muffle up our own understandings, and to deliver our reason 
and faith over to others blindfold. Reason is God^s image in 
us ; and as the use and application of our reason, as well as of 
the freedom of our wills, are the highest excellencies of the ra- 
tional nature; so they must be always claimed, and ought never 
to be parted with by us, but upon clear and certain authorities 
in the name of God, putting us implicitly under the dictates 
of others. 

We may abuse the use of our reason, as well as the liberty 
of our will; and may be damned for the one as well as the 
other. But when we set ourselves to make the best use we 
can of the freedom of our wills, we may and do upon that ex- 
pect secret assistances. We have both the like promises, di- 
rection to the like prayers, and reason to expect the same 
illumination, to make us see, know, and comprehend the truths 
of religion, that we have to expect that our powers shall be 
inwardly strengthened to love and obey them. David prays 
Ps. cxix. that Gt)d may ' open his eyes,' as well as that he may ' make 
is 'uf 13 his ways.' The promises in the prophets con-^ 

J er. xxxi. ceming the gospel dispensation carry in them the being taught 
33,34. of God, as well as the being made to walk in his ways; and 



THE XXXIX ARTICLES. 



247 



Hlie enlightening the mind^ and the eyes of the mind^ to A R T. 

know, is prayed for by St. Paul, as well as that ^ Christ may 

dwell in their hearts.^ Eph.i. 18. 

Since then there is an assistance of the Divine grace given iii. 17. 
to fortify the understanding, as well as to enable the will, it 
follows that our understanding is to be employed by us in 
order to the finding out of the truth, as well as our will in 
order to the obeying of it. And though this may have very 
ill consequences, it does not follow from thence, that it is not 
true. No consequences can be worse than the corruption that 
is in the world, and the damnation that follows upon sin ; and 
yet God permits it, because he has made us free creatures. 
Nor can any reason be given why we should be less free in the 
use of our understanding, than we are in the use of our will ; 
or why God should make it to be less possible for us to fall 
into errors, than it is to commit sins. The wrath of God is 
as much denounced against men that ^hold the truth in un- Rom. i. 18. 
righteousness,' as against other sins : and it is reckoned among 
the heaviest of curses, to be given up to ^ strong delusions, to 2 Thess.ii. 
believe a lie.' Upon all these reasons therefore it seems clear, 
that our understandings are left free to us as well as our wills ; 
and if we observe the style and method of the scriptures, we 
shall find in them all over a constant appeal to a man's reason, 
and to his intellectual faculties. 

If the mere dictates of the church, or of infallible men, had 
been the resolution or foundation of faith, there had been no 
need of such a long thread of reasoning and discourse, as both 
our Saviour used while on earth, and as the apostles used in 
their writings. We see the way of authority is not taken, but 
explanations are offered, proofs and illustrations are brought 
to convince the mind; which shews that God, in the clearest 
manifestation of his wiU, would deal with us as with reasonable 
creatures, who are not to believe but upon persuasion ; and 
are to use our reasons in order to the attaining that persuasion. 
And therefore upon the whole matter we ought not to believe 
doctrines to be true, because the church teaches them ; but we 
ought to ' search the scriptures,' and then, according as we find 
the doctrine of any church to be true in the fundamentals, we 
ought to believe her to be a true church ; and if, besides this, 
the whole extent of the doctrine and worship, together not 
only with the essential parts of the sacraments, but the whole 
administration of them and the other rituals of any church, 
are pure and true ; then we ought to account such a church 
true in the largest extent of the word true; and by conse- 
quence we ought to hold communion with it. 

Another question may arise out of the first words of this 
Article, concerning the visibility of this church ; Whether it 
must be always visible ? According to the distinction hitherto 
made use of, the resolution of this will be soon made. There 
seem to be promises in the scriptures, of a perpetual duration 



248. 



AN EXPOSITION OF 



A RT. of the Christian church : ' I will be with you always^ even to 
the end of the world :^ and^ ^ The gates of hell shall not pre^ 
jviattlu ^^i^ against the church/ The Jewish religion had a period 
xxviii. 20. prefixed, in which it was to come to an end : but the prophe^ 
Matt. XVI. (.jgs ii^Q^ among the prophets, concerning the new dispen- 
sation, seem to import not only its continuance, but its being 
continued still visible in the world. But as the Jewish dis- 
pensation was long continued, after they had fallen generally 
into some very gross errors ; so the Christian church may be 
visible still, though not infallible. God may preserve the 
succession of a true church, as to the essentials and funda- 
mentals of faith, in the world, even though this society should 
fall into error. So a visible society of Christians in a true 
church, as to the essentials of our faith, is not controverted 
by us. We do only deny the infallibihty of this true church, 
and therefore we are not afraid of that question. Where was 
your church before Henry the Eighth We answer, It was 

* To confound the two questions (the falling of a church from its being and its 
visibility), is as absurd as to maintain that ' the stars fail every day, and the sun 
every night.' Some churches may fall from their purity, but yet not from their 
being or visibility. Some may so fail as to fulfil the threat, ' I will remove thy 
candlestick out of its place,' and there be left not so much as the name of a Chris- 
tian church. With us in these kingdoms the church for a time fell from its purity, 
but not from its being or visibility, for even in the most corrupt ages there were 
many true Christians, who too frequently were called to seal their testimony with 
their blood. In order then to entangle us in any difficulty by the question, ' Where 
was your religion before Henry the Eighth?' Romanists ought to prove that 
England was obliged, not merely by the bonds of love which ought to bind all pure 
churches together, bvit, Jure divino, to communicate with the papal see ; and to 
receive, with brutish submission, all its degrading additions to Christianity, as the 
'true catholic faith out of which no man can be saved.' Jk 

Henry VHI. resisted ar|d overturned the pope's usurped authority over these 
dominions. The church then, being delivered from her oppressor, ceased to teach 
the papal additions and novelties, and returned to the primitive truth, by continuing 
to teach what popery herself is compelled to acknowledge as the catholic faith. 

This is simply and powerfully stated by Sir H. Lynde, in his ' Via Tuta,' in 
reply to the question, ' Where was your religion before Luther ?' 

' He then that shall question us, where our church was before Luther? let him 
look back into the primitive church ; nay, let him look into the bosom of the pre- 
sent Roman church, and there he shall find and confess, that, if ever antiquity and 
universality were marks of the true church, of right and necessity they must belong 
to ours. Look into the four creeds, which the church of Rome professes, (the 
Apostles', the Nicene, the Athanasian, and the creed of pope Pius IV.) and you 
shall find that three of those creeds are taught and believed by our church ; and 
these, by our adversaries' confession, were instituted by the apostles, and the 
fathers of the primitive church, not created by Luther. Look into the seven sacra- 
ments, which the church of Rome holds, and you shall acknowledge that two of 
these sacraments are professed by us ; and these, by our adversaries' confession, 
were instituted by Christ, not broached by Luther. Look into the canon of our 
Bible, and you shall observe, that the books of canonical scripture which our 
church allows, were universally received in all ages, and are approved at this day 
by the church of Rome for canonical scripture, not devised by Luther. Look into 
our book of Common Prayer, and compare it with the ancient liturgies, and it 
will appear that the same forms of prayer (for substance) were read, and pub- 
lished in a known tongue, in the ancient churches, not broached by Luther. Look 
into the ordination, and calling of pastors, and it will appear, that the same essen- 
tial form of ordination, which at this day is practised in our church, was used by 
the apostles and their successors, and not devised by Luther. If therefore the three 
creeds, the two principal sacraments of the church, the books of canonical scrip., 
ture, the ancient liturgies, the ordination of pastors : if, 1 say, all these were an-? 



THE XXXIX ARTICLES. 



249 



where it is now, here in England, and in the other kingdoms A R T. 
of the world : only it was then corrupted, and it is now pure. 
There is therefore no sort of inconvenience in o"^\^ling the con- 
stant visibihty of a constant succession and church of true 
Christians : true as to the essentials of the covenant of grace, 
though not true in all their doctrines. This seems to be a 
part of the glory of the Messias, and of his kingdom, that he 
shall be still visibly worshipped in the world by a body of men 
called by his name. But when visibihty is thus separated 
from infallibihty, and it is made out that a church may be a 
true church, though she has a large allay of errors and corrup- 
tions mixed in her constitution and decisions ; there will be 
no manner of inconvenience in owTiing a constant visibility, 
even at the same time that Ave charge the most eminent part of 
this visible body with many errors and with much corruption. 

So far has the first part of this article been treated of : from 
it we pass to the second, which affirms, that as the other 
patriarchal and apostolical churches, such as J erusalem, Alex- 
andria, and Antioch, have erred, so the church of Rome has 
likeA\dse erred, and that not only in their living, and manner 
of ceremoines, but also in matters of faith. 

It is not questioned but that the other patriarchal churches 

ciently taught, and universally, in all ages, in the bosom of the Roman church, even 
by the testimonies of our adversaries themselves, is it not a silly and senseless 
question to demand of us, where our church was before Luther ? The positive 
doctrine which we teach, is contained in a few principal points, and those also have 
antiquity, and universality, with the consent of the Roman church. The points in 
controversy, which are sub Judice and in question, are, for the most part, if not 
all, additions obtruded upon the church, and certainly, from those additions and new 
articles of faith, the question, truly and properly, results upon themselves: where 
was your church (that is, where was your Trent doctrine, and articles of the Roman 
creed, received de fide ) before Luther ? If, therefore, our doctrine lay involved in 
the bosom of the Roman church (which no Romanist can deny), if I say, it became 
hidden, as good corn covered with chaff, or as fine gold overlaid with a greater 
quantity of dross, was it therefore new and unknown, because popery sought, by a 
prevailing faction, to obscure it ? Was there no good corn in the granary of the 
church, for many years' space, until Luther's days, because it was not severed from 
the chaff? No pure gold, because our adversaries would not refine it by the fire of 
God's urn-d ^ If the chaff and dross be ours, or if our church savour of nothing but 
novelty and heresy (as some of these men pretend), let them remove from the bosom 
of their own church, that new and heretical doctrine, which they say was never heard 
of before Luther ; and tell me if their church will not prove a poor and senseless 
carcass, and a dead body without a soul. Take away the three creeds, which we 
profess, our two sacraments, the books of canonical scripture, and tell me, if such 
light chaff and new heresies (as they now style them) were removed, whether their 
twelve neio articles, their five (improperly called) sacraments, their Apocryphal scrip- 
tures, their unwritten verities and traditions, will be able to make a true visible 
church F Nay, more; the church of Rome does not only acknowledge those 
things which we hold, but the most ingenuous members of it are ashamed also of 
those ADDITIONS of theirs, which we deny. As for instance, we charge them with 
the worship of images (contrary to Exod. xx. 4, 5) : they deny it, or at least 
excuse their manner of adoration ; but they condemn not us for not worshipping. We 
accuse them for praying in an unknown tongue (contrary to 1st Cor. xiv.) . they 
excuse it, that God knows the meaning of the heart ; but they do not condemn us 
for praying with the spirit, and with the understanding. We condemn them for 
adoring the elements of bread and wine in the sacrament, because it contradicts 
God's word, and depends upon the intention of the priest : they excuse it, that they 
■adore upon condition, if the consecrated bread be Christ ; but they do not condemn 



250 



AN EXPOSITION OF 



ART. have erred ; both that where our Saviour himself first taught, 
and which was governed by two of the apostles successively, 
and those which were founded by St. Peter in person, or by 
proxy, as church-history represents Alexandria and Antiocli 
to have been. Those of the church of Rome, by whom they 
are at this day condemned both of heresy and schism, do not 
dispute this. Nor do they dispute that many of their popes 
have led bad and flagitious lives: they deny not that the 
canons, ceremonies, and government of the church, are ver^7 
much changed by the influence and authority of their popes fo 
but the whole question turns upon this. Whether the see of 
Rome has erred in matters of faith or not ? In this those of 
that communion are divided : some, by the church or see of 
Rome, mean the popes personally ; so they maintain, that 
they never have, and never can fall into error : whereas 
others, by the see of Rome, mean that whole body that holds 
communion with Rome, which they say cannot be tainted with 
error ; and these separate this from the personal infallibility 
of popes : for if a pope should err, they think that a general 
council has authority to proceed against him, and to deprive 
him: and thus, though he should err, the ^ee might be kept 
free from error. I shall upon this Article only consider the 
first opinion, reserving the consideration of the second to the 
Article concerning general councils. 

us for adoring Christ's real body in heaven. We accuse them for taking away the 
cup from the lay people : they excuse it, but they do not condemn us for following 
Christ's example, and receiving in both kinds. And what is remarkable and com- 
fortable to all believing Protestants, we charge them vv^ith flat idolatry in the adora- 
tion of the sacrament, of relics, of saints, of images. And, howsoever they excuse 
themselves in distinguishing their manner of adoration, yet, I say, to our endless 
comfort be it spoken, they cannot charge us, in the doctrine of our church, no, not 
with the least suspicion of idolatry.' 

Others would trace the church in the footsteps of the various churches and indi- 
viduals that have been persecuted by the papal see. 

This course is adopted and well handled by Mournay, count de Plessis, in his 
address to ' the Friends and Followers of the Church of Rome,' at the beginning' 
of his ' Mystery of Iniquity, the History of the Papacy,' in which he points out where 
our church was all the time preceding the Reformation, and ably retorts, calling on 
them to shew where their church was in ' those six hundred years next after Christ.' 

The former part he winds up in the following beautiful sentence, which, although 
this note is unavoidably long, the Editor cannot deny himself and the reader the 
pleasure of quoting and perusing : 

' And now thou knowest where our church was in all this time. Thou, rude : 
and simple as thou art, thinkest, perhaps, when thou seest the sun to set in the 
west, that it is swallowed up in the ocean, and quite extinguished, wherein indeed, 
when it sets to thee, it riseth to others, and returns again to thee in his due time, 
and misseth not a minute ; the river Rosny, when it entereth into the Lake of 
Lozanna, thou thinkest it is quite devoured, but that lively and running water 
cutteth and divideth that dead and standing pool, making way through her swal- 
lowing depths : our church in like manner hath made her way through many ages, 
hath run into the lake, yet not overwhelmed, but hath past through the bottomless 
gulfs thereof with glory and triumph ; and many rivers meeting her, she passeth 
through many countries, and at the last falls into her ocean, the church of Christ 
into God, the bottomless sea of all goodness, and there is drowned, losing herself 
to find herself in Him.' 

The reader should also, on this point, read Stillingfleet's Rational Account of 
the Grounds of the Protestant Religion; art. 'the Reformation of the Church of 
England justified.' — [Ed.] 



THE XXXIX ARTICLES. 



251 



As to the popes their being subject to error, that must be ART. 
confessed, unless it can be proved, that, by a clear and express 
privilege granted them hj God, they are excepted out of the 
common condition of human nature. It is further highly 
probable that there is no such privilege, since the church con- 
tinued for many ages before it was so much as pretended to ; 
and that in a time when that see was not only claiming all the 
rights that belonged to it, but challenging a great many that 
were flatly denied and rejected : such as the right of receiving 
appeals from the ^African churches ; in which reiterated in- 
stances, and a bold claim upon a spurious canon, pretended 
to be of the council of Nice, were long pursued : but those 
churches asserted their authority of ending all matters mthin 
themselves. In all this contest infallibihty was never claimed; 
no more than it had been by Victor, when he excommunicated 
the Asian churches for observing Easter on the fourteenth day 
of the moon, and not on the Lord^s-day after, according to 
the custom of the Roman as well as of other churches. 

When pope Stephen quarrelled with St. Cyprian about the Euseb.His. 
rebaptizing of heretics, Cyprian and Firmilian were so far 2^^^*25^*^* 
from submitting to his authority, that they speak of him with cypr. Ep. 
a freedom used by equals, and with a severity that shewed 74 et 75. 
they were far from thinking him infallible. When the whole q^^^' 
east was distracted with the disputes occasioned by the Arian con. * 
controversy, there was so much partiality in all their councils, Sard. c. 3, 
that it was decreed, that appeals should be made to pope ^* 
Julius, and afterwards to his successors; though here was an 
occasion given to assert his infallibihty, if it had been thought 
on, yet none ever spoke of it. Great reverence was paid to 
that church, both because they believed it was founded by 
St. Peter and St. Paul, and chiefly because it was the imperial 
city ; for we see that all other sees had that degree of dignity 
given them, which by the constitution of the Roman empire 
was lodged in their cities : and so when Byzance was made 
the imperial city, and called New Rome, though more com- 
monly Constantinople, it had a patriarchal dignity bestowed 
on it ; and was in all things declared equal to Old Rome, only 
the point of rank and order excepted. This was decreed in 
fr^vo general councils, the second and the fourth, in so ex- 
press a manner, that it alone before equitable judges would 
fully shew the sense of the church in the fourth and fifth 
century upon this head. When pope Liberius condemned 
Athanasius, and subscribed to semi-Arianism, this was never (j^^j^ 
considered as a new decision in that matter, so that it altered Const, 
the state of it. No use was made of it, nor was any argument 
drawn from it. Liberius was universally condemned for what ced! C 2b" 
he had done ; and when he -repented of it, and retracted it, 
he was again owned by the church. 

We have in the sixth century a most undeniable instance 
of the sense of the whole church in this matter. Pope 



252 



^An exposition of 



ART. Honorius was by the sixth general council condemned as?% 
^ Monothelite ; and this in the presence of the pope's legates^' 
and he was anathematized by several of the succeeding popes. 
It is to no purpose here to examine whether he was justly or 
unjustly condemned ; it is enough that the sense both of the 
eastern and western church appeared evidently in that age 
upon these two points ; that a pope might be a heretic ; and 
that^ being such^ he might be held accursed for it: and in 
Cone. Si- that time there was not any one that suggested,, that either he 
303!^* could not fall into heresy^ since our Saviour had prayed that 
—torn. 1. St. Peter's faith might not fail ; or that^ if he had fallen into 
Cone. it^ he must be left to the judgment of God; but that the holy 
see (according to the fable of P. Marcellin) could be judged 
by no body. The confusions that followed for some ages in 
the western parts of Europe^ more particularly in Italy, gave 
occasion to the bishops of Rome to extend their authority. ' 

The emperors at Constantinople, and their exarchs at Ra- 
venna, studied to make them sure to their interests, yet stiU 
asserting their authority over them. The new conquerors 
studied also to gain them to their side; and they managed 
their matters so dexterously, that they went on still increas^:^ 
ing and extending their authority ; till being much straitened*^ 
by the kings of the Lombards, they were protected by a ne# 
conquering family, that arose in France in the eighth cen- 
tury; who, to give credit both to their usurpation of that 
crown, and to the extending their dominions into Italy, and 
the assuming the empire of the west, did both protect and 
enrich them, and enlarged their authority; the greatness 
of which they reckoned could do them no hurt, as long as 
they kept the confirmation of their election to themselves. 
That family became quickly too feeble to hold that power 
long, and then an imposture was published, of a volume of 
the Decretal Epistles of the popes of the first ages, in which 
they were represented as acting according to those high claims 
to which they were then beginning to pretend. Those ages 
were too blind and too ignorant to be capable of searching 
critically into the truth of this collection ; it quickly passed 
for current; and though some in the beginning disputed it> 
yet that was soon borne down, and the credit of that work 
was established. It furnished them with precedents that they 
were careful enough not only to foUow, but. to outdo. Thus 
a work, which is now as universally rejected by the learned 
men of their own body as spurious, as it was then implicitly 
taken for genuine, gave the chief foundation during many 
ages to their unbounded authority: and this furnishes us with 
a very just prejudice against it, that it was managed with so 
much fraud and imposture; to which they added afterwards 
much cruelty and violence; the two worst characters possible, 
and the least hkely to be found joined with infallibility : for 
it is reasonable enough to apprehend, that, if God had lodged 



THE XXXIX ARTICLES. 



253 



sucli a privilege any where, he would have so influenced those ART. 
who were the depositaries of it, that they should have ap- 
peared somewhat like that authority to w^hich they laid claim; 
and that he would not have forsaken them so, that for above 
eight hundred years the papacy, as it is represented by their 
own writers, is perhaps the worst succession of men that is to 
be found in history.* 

But now to come more close, to prove what is here asserted 
in this part of the Article. If all those doctrines which were 
established at Trent, and that have been confirmed by popes, 
a^d most of them brought into a new creed, and made parts 
of it, are found to be gross errors; or if but any one of them 
should be found to be an error, then there is no doubt to be 
made but that the church of Rome hath erred; so the proof 
brought against every one of these is likewise a proof against 
their infalhbility. But I shall here give one instance of an 
error, which will not be denied by the greater part of the 
church of Rome. They have now for above six hundred years 
asserted, that they had an authority over princes, not only to 
convict and condemn them of heresy, and to proceed against 
them with church-censures ; but that they had a power to 
depose them, to absolve their subjects from their oaths of al- 
legiance, and to transfer their dominions to such persons as 
should undertake to execute their sentences. This they have 
often put in execution, and have constantly kept up their claim 
to it to this day. It will not serve them to get clear here, to 
say, that these were the violent practices of some popes : 
what they did in many particular instances may be so turned 
off, and left as a blemish on the memories of some of them. 

* ' The ancient canons are more reverently regarded in the church of England, 
than in the church of Rome ; for how well you have observed them in former ages, 
let your own Baronius testify. " How foul (saith he) was then the face of the holy 
Roman church, when most potent, and withal most filthy, harlots did bear all the 
sway at Rome ? at whose lust sees were changed, bishops appointed, and (which is 
horrible to be heard, and not to be uttered) whose lovers, the false popes, were 
thrust into the seat of Peter, which were not to be written in the catalogue of the 
Roman bishops, but only for the noting of the times : for who may say they were 
lawful popes which were thus, without right, thrust in by such strumpets ? No 
where we find any mention of clergy choosing, or giving consent afterward ; all 
canons were put to silence ; the pontifical decrees were choked, ancient tradi- 
tions proscribed, and the old customs, sacred rites, and former use in choosing the 
high bishop, utterly extinguished." And for later times, your own learned friends 
also complain as followeth. Budeus : " The holy canons and rules of church disci- 
pline, made in better times to guide the life of clergymen, are now become leaden 
rules, such a§ Aristotle saith the rules of Lesbian buildings were. For as leaden 
and soft rules do not direct the building with an equal tenor, but are bowed to the 
building at the lust of the builders ; so are the popes' canons made flexible as lead 
or wax, that now this great while the decrees of our ancestors, and the popes' 
canons, serve not to guide men's manners, but (that I may so say) to make q 
bank and get money." Francescus de Victoria, doctor of the chair at Salaman- 
tica in Spain : " We see daily so large, or rather so dissolute dispensations pro- 
ceed from the court of Rome, that the world cannot endure them. Neither is 
it only to the offence of the little ones, but of the great ones also. No man seek- 
eth a dispensation but he obtaineth it : yea, at Rome there are which give attend- 
ance to see if any be willing to crave dispensation of all things established by law ; 
all that ci-ave it have it." ' Mas<m: On the Orders of the Church of Englmd. — [Ed.} 



254 



AN EXPOSITION OF 



ART. But the point at present in question is, whether they have not 
laid claim to this, as a right belonging to their see, as a part 
~ of St. Peter's authority descended to them ? whether they 
Dictat. have not founded it on his being Christ's vicar, who was the 
Papae. ' King of kings, and Lord of lords ; to whom all power in hea- 
Gfr^'vil ^^^^ earth was given?' Whether they have not founded 

lib. li. * Jeremy's ^ being set over nations and kingdoms, to root 
Post.Epist. out, pluck down, and to destroy ?' and on other places of scrip- 
Cx)ncii^^** ^^^^ ' forgetting, that the first words of the Bible are, 
Epist. de- ^^^^ ^^^^ beginning,' and not ^ In the beginnings;' from which 
cret. ac they inferred, that there is but one principle, from whence all 
Sum^'pori P^^'®^ derived: and that God made Hwo great lights, the 
tif. tom.^^i" to rule by day ;' which they applied to themselves. 
Par. 1714. This, I say, is the question : Whether they did not assume 
de^Ma'^^* ^^^^ authority as a power given them by God ? As for the 
et ObedT' ^PP^yi^g to particular instances, to those kings and empe- 
lib.i. c. 1. rors whom they deposed, that is, indeed, a personal thing, 
whether they were guilty of heresy, or of being favourers of 
it, or not ? And whether the popes proceeded against them 
with too much violence or not ? 

The point now in question is. Whether they declared this 
to be a doctrine, that there was an authority lodged with their 
see for doing such things, and whether they alleged scripture 
and tradition for it?* 

Now this will appear evident to those who will read their 
3 °ca ^7* ^^^^ ' preambles of which those quotations will be 

CoiL^Lat.* found, as some of them are in the body of the canon law ; and 
4. Can. 3. it is decreed in it, that the belief of this is absolutely necessary 
^""^'^^S' to salvation. 

This was pursued in a course of many ages. General 
councils, as they are esteemed among men, have concurred 
with the popes both in general decrees asserting this power 
to be in them, and in special sentences against princes : this 
became the universally received doctrine of those ages : No 
ron Ha-*^ " unive7'sity nor nation declaring against it ; not so much as one 
rangue au divine, civilian, canonist, or casuist, writ against it, as Card, 
tiers estat. Perron truly said. It was so certainly believed, that those 
writers, whom the deposed princes got to undertake their 
defence, do not in any of their books pretend to call the doc- 
trine in general in question. 

Two things were disputed : one was. Whether popes had 
a direct power in temporals over princes ; so that they were 
as much subject to them as feudatory princes were to their 
superior lords ? This, to which Boniface the Eighth laid claim, 
was indeed contradicted. The other point was. Whether 
those particulars for which princes had been deposed, such 
as the giving the investiture to bishoprics, were heresies or 
not? This was much contested: but the power, in the case 

* The reader will find this question very fully and ably discussed in the Introduc- 
tion to Barrow's ' Treatise of the Pope's Supremacy. ' — [Ed.] 



Card. Per- 



THE XXXIX ARTICLES. 



of manifest heresy^ or of favouring it^ to depose princes^ and a ti t. 



XIX. 



transfer their crowns to others^ was never called in question. 
This was certainly a definition made in the chair, ex cathedra : 
for it was addressed to all their community, both laity and 
clergy : plenary pardons were bestowed with it on those who . u;. i 
executed it : the clergy did generally preach the croisades . -^^'^^^ 
upon it. Princes, that were not concerned in him that was ' f 

deposed, gave way to the publication of those bulls, and gave J 
leave to their subjects to take the cross, in order to the exe- - 
cuting of them : and the people did in vast multitudes gather 
a])out the standards that were set up for leading on armies to 
execute them ; while many learned men writ in defence of this 
power, and not one man durst write against it. 

This argument lies not only against the infallibility of 
popes, but against that of general councils likewise ; and also 
against the authority of oral tradition : for here, in a succes- 
sion of many ages, the tradition was wholly changed from the 
doctrine of former times, which had been, that the clergy were 
subject to princes, and had no authority over them or their 
crowns. Nor can it be said, that that was a point of discipline ; 
for it was founded on an article of doctrine, whether there was 
such a power in the popes or not ? The prudence of executing 
or not executing it, is a point of discipline and of the govern- 
ment of the church: but it is a point of doctrine, Avhether 
Christ has given such an authority to St. Peter and his fol- 
lowers. And those points of speculation, upon which a great "^^ 
deal turns as to practice, are certainly so important, that in 5 
them, if in any thing, Ave ought to expect an infallibility : for .ii-i. ' > 
in this case a man is distracted between two contrary propo- --'^-^ 
sitions : the one is, that he must obey the civil powers, as set 
over him by an ordinance of God; so that if he resist them, 
life shall receive in himself damnation : the other is, that the 
^ope being Christ^s vicar, is to be obeyed when he absolves 
him from his former oath and allegiance ; and that the nev/ ,^ ^^^^^ 
prince set up by him, is to be obeyed under the pain of dam- 'alil^-i. 
nation likemse. uu 
- Here a man is brought into a great strait, and therefore Sfe J^isaa^aji 
ttiust be guided by infallibility, if in any thing. 

So the whole argument comes to this head ; that we must 
either believe that the deposing power is lodged by Christ in 
the see of Rome ; or we must conclude, with the Article, that 
they have en'ed ; and by consequence, that they are not infalli- 
ble : for the erring in any one point, and at any one time, does 
quite destroy the claim of infallibility. 

Before this matter can be concluded, we must consider 
what is 1)rought to prove it : what was laid down at first must 
be here remembered, that the proofs brought for a thing of 
this nature must be very express and clear. A privilege of 
such a sort, against which the appearances and prejudices are 
so strong, must be very fully made out, before we can be 



25G 



^IVN EXPOSITION OF 



ART bound to believe it: nor can it be reasonable to urge the 
authority of any passages from scripture^ till the grounds are 
shewn for which the scriptures themselves ought to be believed. 

Those who think that it is in general well proved, that there 
must be an infallibility in the church, conclude from thence, 
that it must be in the pope : for if there must be a hving 
speaking judge always ready to guide the church, and to de^ 
cide controversies, they say this cannot be in the diffusive body 
of Christians ; for these cannot meet to judge. Nor can it he 
in a general council, the meeting of which depends upon so 
many accidents, and on the consent of so many princes, that 
the infallibility will lie dormant for some ages, if the general 
council is the seat of it. Therefore they conclude, that since 
it is certainly in the church, and can be nowhere else but in 
the pope, therefore it is lodged in the see of Rome. Whereas 
we, on the other hand, think this is a strong argument against 
■rz i the infallibility in general, that it does not appear in whom it 
?! i'J is vested : and we think that every side does so effectually 
confute the other, that we believe them all as to that ; and 
think they argue much stronger when they prove where it can- 
not be, than when they pretend to prove where it must be.* 

* So far from the church of Rome, which, if Ave believe its own testimony, is 
most united, being agreed in this matter, the very seat of infallibility, the only means 
according to them of preserving unity, is itself the great cause of strife and division. 
When they are urged to point out where this infallibility may be found and con- 
sulted, they are at their wits' end. One says that it is lodged in the pope when he 
speaks ex cathedra. No, says another, who is entangled in this inextricable diffi- 
culty — that popes have contradicted popes, and that too while professing to speak in 
the full plenitude of their authority. Another will have it to be in general councils ; 
but the same difficulty meets us here. Another asserts that it is vested in councils 
when confirmed by popes ; but we are not more fortunate here, for councils confirmed 
by popes have taught and decreed contrary to councils confirmed by popes. No 
wonder then that Chillingworth should exclaim — ' I, for my part, after a long and 
(as I verily believe and hope) impartial search of the true way to eternal happiness, 
do profess plainly that I cannot find any rest for the sole of my foot but upon this 
rock only (the Bible). I see plainly and with mine own eyes, that there are popes 
against popes, councils against councils, some fathers against others, the same fathers 
against themselves, a consent of fathers of one age against a consent of fathers of 
another age, the church of one age against the church of another age,' and, he 
might have added, the church of the council of Trent diametrically opposite to the 
word of God.f If therefore Romanists themselves cannot agree as to the seat of 
this infallibility, it is too much to ask Protestants to submit to such an uncertaitx 
authority. ^, 

But indeed it is quite evident that Romanists themselves have not been able to find 
out this infallible tribunal, for notwithstanding all their boasting, what advantage dp 
they possess over the members of any other church ? They have not preserved, 
themselves from internal divisions ; for no communion was ever more distracted. If 
they say, ' our divisions are about non-essential points,' we may reply, according to 
Chillingworth, that those who differ from us, do so in points fundamental, or they do 
not. If in points fundamental, they cannot possibly belong to our church. If they 
diflfer from us in points not fundamental, why may not we have our dilferences as 
well as you ? But how can that communion be undivided when, as we have said, 
the centre or seat of unity is itself the cause of strife ? 

Again, the church of Rome has not furnished its members with an infallible ex- 
position of the word of God, which, to any reasonable mind, would appear to be the 



f The reader should furnish himself from history with some facts preying each 
of the positions above mentioned. 



THE XXXIX ARTICLES. 



257 



This, in tlie point now in hand, concerning the pope, seems A n i\ 
as evident as any thing can possibly be : it not appearing, that, 
after the words of Christ to St. Peter, the other apostles thought 
the point was thereby decided, who among them should be the 
greatest. For that debate was still on foot, and was canvassed 
among them in the very night in which our Saviour was be- 
trayed. Nor does it appear, that after the effusion of the 
Holy Ghost, which certainly inspired them with the full un- 
derstanding of Christ's words, they thought there was any 
thing peculiarly given to St. Peter beyond the rest. He was 
questioned upon his baptizing Cornelius ; he was not singly Acts xi. 2 
appealed to in the great question of subjecting the Gentiles to 
the yoke of the Mosaical law ; he dehvered his opinion as one 
of the apostles : after which St. J ames summed up the matter, 
and settled the decision of it. He was charged by St. Paul as Acts xv. 
guilty of dissimulation in that matter, for which St. Paul with- ^^^^ .. ^ ^ 
stood him to his face : and he justifies that in an Epistle that is _i4^ 
confessed to be writ by divine inspiration. St. Paul does also? i, 12, 17. 
in the same Epistle plainly assert the equality of his own au^-. 
thority with his ; and that he received no authority from himyf 
and owed him no dependence : nor was he ever appealed to in 
any of the points that appear to have been disputed in the 

times that the Epistles were written. So that we see no cha- 

. t om 

great end for which such a privilege as that of infallibility would have been bestowed 
upon any church. In this important matter, that church which claims to be the 
interpreter of holy writ has grossly neglected the edification of its members. 

Well is this vain pretence thus exposed by Chillingworth : ' Besides, what an 
impudence it is to pretend, that your church is iyifallibly directed concerning the true 
meaning of the scripture, whereas there are thousands of places in scripture, which 
you do not pretend certainly to understand, and about the interpretation whereof 
your own doctors differ among themselves ; if your church be infallibly directed con- 
cerning the true meaning of scripture, why do not your doctors follow her infallible 
direction ? And if they do, how comes such difference among them in their inter- 
pretations? 

• Again, Why does your church thus put her candle under a bushel, and keep hei^' 
talent of interpreting scripture infallibly, thus long wrapt up in napkins? Why se$^'* 
she not forth infallible commentaries or expositions upon all the Bible? Is it, be^ 
cause this would not be profitable for Christians, that scripture should be interS^ 
preted? It is blasphemous to say so. The scripture itself tells us. All scripture W' 
profitable. And the scripture is not so much the words as the sense. And int" 
be not profitable, why does she employ particular doctors to interpret scriptures 
fallibly? unless we must think, that fallible interpretations of scripture are profitable, 
and infallible interpretations would not be so !' 

But again ; this infallible tribunal has not furnished even an authorized version 
of the Bible ! There were so many disagreeing editions of the Vulgate, which the 
council of Trent decreed should be held as authentic, that, in order to remedy this 
confusion, Sixtus V., in the year 1590, published an edition which he declared to 
be the authentic Vulgate, which had been the object of search by the council of 
Trent ; and pronounced an anathema against any who should presume to alter it, 
etiam minima aliqua particula. Notwithstanding this, his successor Clement VIII., 
in less than three years, caused it to be suppressed, and published another authen-?fc 
tic edition, which differs from that of Sixtus V.f in only two thousand places ! Upon ' 
these infallibility-destroying changes and contradictions, Dr. James thus writes : — 

' There is a great controversy between us and the papists concerning the version 

f The reader may see this question of the variations of the Vulgate and the se- 
veral editions, &c. &c., treated in the Editor's letters to a Romish priest. — See 
Page's * Three Letters to a Romish Priest,' pp. 43—49. 

S 



258 



AN EXPOSITION OF 



A R T. racters of any special infallibility that was in him^ besides that 
which was the effect of the inspiration^ that was in the other 
apostles as well as in him : nor is there a tittle in the scripture^ 
not so much as by a remote intimation^ that he was to derive 
that authority^ whatsoever it was^ to any successor^ or to lodge 
it in any particular city or see. 

The silence of the scripture in this point seems to be a full 
proof that no such thing was intended by God : otherwise we 
have all reason to beheve that it would have been clearly ex- 
pressed. St. Peter himself ought to have declared this : and 
since both Alexandria and Antioch, as well as Rome^ pretend 
to derive from him^ and that the succession to those sees be- 
gan in him^, this makes a decision in this point so much the 
more necessary. 

When St. Peter writ his second Epistle^ in which he men- 
tions a revelation that he had from Christy of his approaching 
dissolution, though that was a very proper occasion for declar- 
ing such an important matter^ he says nothing that relates to 
it^ but gives only a new attestation of the truth of Christ^s 
divine mission^ and of what he himself had been a witness to 
2Pet.i.l7. in the mounts when he saw ^the excellent glory^ and heard 
the voice out of it.' He leaves a provision in writing for the 
following ages^ but says nothing of any succession or see : so 

of Jerome. That Jerome was learned, and that he put forth a version, is received 
by Protestants and papists ; but vphat this is, and where it is, is disputed. But let 
us grant that the edition papists now use, called the Vulgate, is the same which 
Jerome handed down, yet when we have so many of our adversaries acknowledging 
various editions of the Vulgate, improved and corrected by Stephanus, Hentenius, 
the doctors of Louvain (" Louvaniensibus"), Sixtus V., and Clement VIII., may 
we not ask, what copy they wish to be received, amidst so many disagreeing editions, 
for the triie, legitimate, authentic, and undoubted ? If they praise the industry of 
Stephanus, they condemn the labours of Hentenius ; if they approve Hentenius, 
the labours of the Louvain doctors are useless ; if the Louvain were diligent (and 
they certainly were), what need of the double labour of Sixtus V. ? Some may 
say, all the other editions must lie by, and Sixtus V.'s be received, because he is 
pope, and as such, in a matter of faith, he neither can deceive, nor be deceived. 
But Sixtus and Clement are opposed. Sixtus says, Clement denies ; Clement says, 
Sixtus denies. ( Concordia discors ! !) Sixtus put forth his edition to last for 
ever! edit, anno 1590. In 1592, Clement VIII. published a new edition so con- 
trary to Sixtus', that t/ou would not know it to be the same. Which must be received 
— which believed ?'§ 

Thus, it is evident that, in all things, the Romanist, although deceived by this 
ignis fatuus of infallibility, is cast upon a sea of uncertainty, and can find no rest 
but in the adoption of the principles of our church. For whether we consider the 
notes of the church — these he must examine and judge of by his private reason : 
or the seat of his church's infallibility — this likewise he must search for by his pri- 
vate judgment, amongst the many and distracting controversies to which it has given 
rise; or does he search for an infallible comm^entary ? he has no such thing — no 
way of ascertaining the meaning of scripture but that which is common to us : or 
for even an authorized version of the word of God ? his church has here likewise 
forsaken him, and by decreeing the Vulgate to be the authentic, without authorizing 
any edition of the same, has consigned him to either ignorance or despair. 

We may then indeed conclude with Burnet, that Romanists ' argue much 
stronger, when they prove where it (infallibility) cannot be, than when they pre- 
tend to prove where it must be,' or what it has done for its deceived votaries. — 
[Ed.1 



§ Bellum Papale. 



THE XXXIX ARTICLES. 



259 



that here the greatest of all privileges is pretended to be ART, 
lodged in a succession of bishops^ without any one passage in 
scripture importing it. 

Another set of difficulties arise, concerning the persons 
who have a right to choose these popes in whom this right is 
vested, and what number is necessary for a canonical election: 
how far simony voids it, and who is the competent judge of 
that; or who shall judge in the case of two different elec- 
tions, which has often happened. We must also have a cer- 
tain rule to know when the popes judge as private persons, 
and when they judge infallibly : with whom they must con- 
sult, and what solemnities are necessary to make them speak 
esc cathedra, or infallibly. For if this infallibility comes as a 
privilege from a grant made by Christ, we ought to expect, 
that all those necessary circumstances to direct us, in order to 
the recei\dng and submitting to it, should be fixed by the 
same authority that made the grant. Here then are very 
great difficulties : let us now see what is offered to make out 
this great and important claim. 

The chief proof is brought from these words of our Sa- 
viour, when upon St. Peter^s confessing, that ^he was the 
Christ, the Son of the living God he said to him, ^ Thou art Matt. xyi. 
Peter, and upon this Rock* I will build my church, and the 
gates of hell shall not prevail against it. I will give unto thee 
the keys of the kingdom of heaven ; and whatsoever thou 

* ' But, for as much as they seem to make greatest account of these words of 
Christ, " Thou art Peter, and upon this rock I will build my church," therefore, for 
answer hereunto, understand thou good Christian reader, that the old Catholic fathers, 
have written and pronounced, not any mortal man as Peter was, but Christ himself, the 
Son of God, to be this rock. Gregorius Nyssenus saith, " Tu es Petrus," &c. &c. 
" Thou art Peter, and upon this rock I will build my church." He meaneth the 
confession of Christ : for he had said before, " Thou art Christ, the Son of the living 
God." So saith St. Hilary, " Hsec est una felix fidei Petra, quam Petrus ore sue 
confessus est." — " This is that only blessed rock of faith that Peter confessed with 
his mouth." Again he saith, " Upon this rock of Peter's confession is the 
building of the church." So Cyrillus, " Petra nihil aliud est, quam firma et incon- 
cussa discipuli fides." — " The rock is nothing else, but the strong and assured 
faith of the disciple." So likewise Chrysostome, " Super banc petram, id est, in 
hac fide, et confessione aedificabo ecclesiam meam." — " Upon this rock, that is to 
say, upon this faith and this confession I will build my church." Likewise St. 
Augustin, " Petra erat Christus super quod fundamentum etiam sedificatus est 
Petrus." — " Christ was the rock, upon whose foundation Peter himself was also 
built." And addeth further besides, " Non me eedificabo super te, sed te sedificabo 
super me." — " Christ saith unto Peter, I will not build myself upon thee: but I 
will build thee upon me." All these fathers be plain, but none so plain as Origen; 
his words be these : " Petra est, quicunque est discipulus Christi : et super talem 
petram construitur omnis ecclesiastica doctrina. Quod in super unum ilium Petrum 
tantum existimas eedificare totam ecclesiam, quid dicturus es de Johanne filio 
Tonitrui, et apostolorum unoquoque ? Num audebis dicere quod adversus Petrum 
xmum non prevaliturae sint portse inferorum? Au soli Petro dantur a Christo 
claves regni coelorum?" — "He is the rock, whosoever is the disciple of Christ: 
and upon such a rock all ecclesiastical learning is built. If thou think that the 
whole church is built only upon Peter, what then wilt thou say of John, the son of 
the thunder, and of every of the apostles ? shall we dare to say, that the gates of 
hell shall not prevail only against Peter? or are the keys of the kingdom of heaven 
given only unto Peter .?" By these few it may appear, what right the pope hath to 
claim his authority by God's word, and, as Mr. Harding saith, De jure divino.' 
JeweWs reply to Harding [Ed.] 

S 2 



260 - 'A^^'MfOSlTION OF 



bn earth shall be bound in heaven, and whatsoever 
thou shalt loose on earth shall be loosed in heaven/ This 
; . begins with an allusion to his name; and discourses built 
"5 upon such allusions are not to be understood strictly or gram- 
matically. By the Rock upon which Christ promises to build 
his church, many of the fathers have understood the person of 
Christ, others have understood the confession of him, or faith 
in him, which indeed is but a different way of expressing the 
same thing. And it is certain that, strictly speaking, the 
church can only be said to be founded upon Christ, and upon 
his doctrine. But iii a secondary sense it may be said to be 
founded upon the apostles, and upon St. Peter as the firstijti 
order ; which is not to be disputed. 

Now though this is a sense which was not put on these 
words for many ages; yet when it should be allowed to be 
their true sense, it will not prove any thing to have been 
granted to St. Peter but what was common to the other 
Eph.ii.20. apostles ; who are all ealled the ^foundations upon which the 
Rev.xxi. church is built.' That which follows, of the gates of hell not 
being able to prevail against the church, may be either under- 
stood of deatji, which is often called the gate to the grave; 
which is the sense of the word that is rendered hell : and then 
the meaning of these words will be, that the church, which 
Christ was to raise, should never be extinguished, nor die, or 
come to a period, as the Jewish religion then did : or, accord- 
ing to the custom of the Jews, of holding their courts and 
councils about their gates, by the gates of hell may be under- 
stood, the designs and contrivances of the powers of darkness, 
which should never prevail over the church to root it out, and 
destroy it; for the word rendered prevail does signify an 
entire victory : this only imports, that the church should be 
still preserved against all the attempts of hell, but does not 
intimate that no error was ever to get into it. 

By the words kingdom of heaven, generally through the 
whole gospel, the dispensation of the Messias is understood. 
This appears evidently from the words with which both St. 
iyiatt.iii.2. John Baptist and our Saviour began their preaching, '^Re- 
iv. 17. and pent, for the kingdom of heaven is at hand :^ and the many 
24— 48^^' P^^ and comparisons that Christ gave of the kingdom of 
heaven, can only be understood of the preaching of the gospel. 
This being then agreed to, the most natural and the least 
forced exposition of those words must be, that St. Peter was 
to open the dispensation of the gospel.* The proper use of a 

* ' And in relation to this promise of our Lord, as well as the completion of it 
by the conversion of the Gentiles, it seems to be that this apostle doth, in the syroi 
met at Jerusalem, speak thus, " Men and brethren, ye know how that a good while 
ago, a(p' hfjt-i^uv K^p^cc'ieov, God chose rne out among you, that by my mouth the Gen- 
tiles should hear the word." (Adts xv. 7.) He therefore was assuredly the person 
who first preached the gospel to the Gentiles, and by doing so opened the kingdom 
of heaven to them: he was the person chosen by Christ to perform this work. 
. Nor is this exposition any new fancy- of my own ; it is as ancient 



THE XXXIX ARTICLES. 



261 



key is to open a door: and as this agrees with these words, ART. 
^ he that hath the key of the house of David, that openeth and 
no man shutteth, and shutteth and no man openeth;^ and with ^lev. iii 7. 
the phrase of the ^key of knowledge,^ by which the lawyers are Luke xi. 
described ; for they had a key with writing tables given them, 
as the badges of their profession : so it agrees with the accom- 
plishment of this promise in St. Peter, who first opened the 
gospel to the Jews, after the wonderful effusion of the Holy 
Ohost: and more eminently when he first opened the door to 
the Gentiles, preaching to Cornehus, and baptizing him and his 
household, to which the phrase of the kingdom of heaven seems 
to have a more particular relation. This dispensation was com- 
mitted to St. Peter, and seems to be claimed by him as his 
peculiar privilege in the council at Jerusalem. This is a 
clear and plain sense of these words. For those who would 
carry them further, and understand by the kingdom of heaven 
our eternal happiness, must use many distinctions; otherwise, 
they expound them literally, they will ascribe to St. Peter 
'that which certainly could only belong to our Saviour himself. ".sH. 
Though at the same time it is not to be denied, but that M 
under the figure of keys, the power of discipline, and the con- 
^^uct and management of Christians, may be understood. But 
%s to this, all the pastors of the church have their share in it ; 
'^'iior can it be appropriated to any one person. As for that 
"^f binding and loosing, and the confirming in heaven what he 
'^should do in earth, whatever it may signify, it is no special 
grant to St. Peter: for the same words are spoken by our 
c^'Saviour elsewhere to all the apostles : so this is given equally 
^to them all. The words binding and loosing are used by the 
^-Jewish writers, in the sense of affirming or denying the obli- 
^*gation of any precept of the law that might be in dispute. So 
•^^according to this common form of speech, and the sense 
formerly given to the words ki7igdom of heaven, the meaning 
^^ka these words must be, that Christ committed to the apostles 
•'^the dispensing his gospel to the world, by which he autho- 
•^Hzed them to dissolve the obhgation of the Mosaical laws; 
~^and to give other laws to the Christian church, which they 
Y%hould do under such visible characters of a divine authority, 
^empowering and conducting them in it, that it should be very 



Js( 

__ ^ ^ ^ . 

.,p.as Tertullian, who saith (DePudicitia) that Christ did personally confer this honour 
on St. Peter, saying-, "Upon thee will I build my church." " Sic enim exitus 
docuit, in ipso ecclesia exstructa est, i.e. per ipsura, ipse clavem imbuit." — " So the 
event doth teach, the church was ljuilt on him, that is, by him, he hanselled the 
-Ji first key :" he preached that sermon by which three thousand Jews were brought 
to into the faith ; he laid the first foundation of a church among the Gentiles ; he 

sliifii^t, by baptism, gave them entrance into the kingdom of heaven 

. This being so, it is evident that in this matter St. Peter neither 

«o bath nor can have a successor ; and that it is absurd to claim a title of succession 
^"<^to this prerogative of St. Peter ; this being in effect to say, that the foundations of 
^"the church of Christ are not yet laid, and to pretend to a commission to perform at 
present what was fully done above a thousand six hundred years ago.' Whitby,— > 
[Ed.] 



vr 



262 



AN EXPOSITION OF 



ART. evident^ that what they did on earth was also ratified in hea- 
ven. These words^ thus understood^ carry in them a clear 
sense^ which agrees with the whole design of the gospel. But 
whatsoever their sense may be., it is plain that there was no- 
thing given peculiarly to St. Peter by them, which was not 
likewise given to the rest of the apostles. Nor do these words 
of our Saviour to St. Peter import any thing of a successive 
infallibility that was to be derived from him with any distinc 
tion beyond the other apostles ; unless it were a priority of 
order and dignity; and whatever that was, there is not so 
much as a hint given, that it v/as to descend from him to any 
see or succession of bishops. 
Luke xxii. foj. q^j. Saviour's praying that St. Peter's faith might 

John xxi. ^^^V aiicl his restoring him to his apostolical function, by 
15, 16, 17. a thrice repeated charge, ^Feed my sheep. Feed my lambs,^ 
that has such a visible relation to his fall, and to his denying 
him, that it does not seem necessary to enlarge further on the 
making it out, or on shewing that these words are capable of 
no other signification, and cannot be carried further. 

The importance of this argument, rather than the difficulty 
of it, has made it necessary to dwell fully upon it : so much 
depends upon it, and the missionaries of the church of Rome 
are so well instructed in it, that it ought to be well considered ; 
for how little strength soever there may be in the arguments 
brought to prove this infallibility, yet the colours are specious, 
and they are commonly managed both with much art and great 
confidence. 



THE XXXIX ARTICLES. 



263 



A R T. 
XX. 



ARTICLE XX. 



Of the Authority of the Church. 

Cl)e €i)n\:d} i)atl) 3Poti)cv to titcvtt ^iUiS or Cmmomesi, antt ^u? 
tJjoriti) in ^Hatter^ of dfait]^. ^nts ^tt it not latuM for t^z 
€i)uvc'^ to orUatu aup ti;ins t|)at ijS contrary to (^oU'^ Wovii lorit^ 
tnr ; neither map tt ^o evpf^"^ ^ »^ P^^^^ f ^ ^mpture, tl^at tt be 
repugnant to anotljcr. Wherefore altjousi; ti)t ^^mcl) be a Wit? 
m^^ antJ keeper of ^olp Writ, pet ats it ougl^t not to trecree am 
ti;mg agatniSt tje slame, ^o bej^itfejS t\)t jgame oug]^t it not to enforee 
ann t^utg to be beliebetl for nece£i£iit|) of ^albation. 

This Article consists of two parts; the first asserts a power 
in the church both to decree rites and ceremonies, and to judge 
in matters of faith : the second hmits this power over matters of 
faith to the scriptures : so that it must neither contradict them, 
nor add any articles as necessary to salvation to those contained 
in them.* This is suitable to some words that were once in 

* The question between us and the papal church in this point is, not whether 
the church has power to decree I'ites or ceremonies, and authority in matters 
of faith — this cannot be denied ; every church has this power within itself — but 
whether the church has authority to enlarge the catholic and apostolic faith by de- 
creeing as necessary to salvation certain articles, which by her own confession have 
not any other foundation except only her decree. This is the question at issue 
between the Reformed and the Church of Rome. Our articles are articles of church 
communion or church discipline, drawn up for the better furtherance of the faith 
of Christ, and rendered necessary for the reasons given by our author in his Intro- 
duction, p. 5. But it must ever be borne in mind, that so far from adding any 
thing to the faith of Christ, two of those articles, the 6th and 20th, declare the 
Bible to be the sole standard of faith ; and that, as it is not lawful to decree any 
thing contrary to it, so it is not in the power of the church to add any thing, even 
though it be not contrary, to that revelation given in the inspired word of God. 
This which we reject is the power usurped by the church of Rome ; in which 
matter she has not only daringly set at nought the solemn injunctions in the word 
of God, but also the decrees of councils which she professes to so highly reverence : 
—-which conduct is well reproved by Bishop Taylor, in the following extract : 

' First, we allege that this very power of making new articles is a novelty, and 
expressly against the doctrine of the primitive church ; and we prove it, first, by the 
words of the apostle, (Gal. i. 8.) saying, " If we, or an angel from heaven, shall 
preach unto you any other gospel (viz. in whole, or in part, for there is the same 
reason of them both) than that which we have preached, let him be anathema ;" and, 
secondly, by the sentence of the Fathers in the third general council, that at Ephe- 
suSjf " That it shall not be lawful for any man to publish or compose another faith 
or creed than that which was defined by the Nicene Council : and that whosoever 
shall dare to compose or offer any such to any persons willing to be converted from 
paganism, Judaism, or heresy, if they were bishops, or clerks, they should be de- 
posed ; if laymen, they should be accursed !" And yet, in the church of Rome, faith 
and Christianity increase like the moon ; Bromyard complained of it long since, 
and the mischief increases daily.' — Ed. 



f This is the decree of the council of Ephesus, to which Burnet refers in his 
Introduction (see pp. 1, 3.) 



264 



AN EXPOSITION OF 



.A R T., the fifth Article^ but were afterwards left out; instead of which 
-J^5i_ ^^^^ words of this Article were put in this place, according 
to the printed editions ; though they are not in the original of 
the Articles signed by both houses of convocation, that ar^, 
yet extant. 

As to the first part of the Article, concerning the power of 
the church, either with relation to ceremonies or points 
faith, the dispute lies only with those who deny all church 
power, and think that churches ought to be in ah. things limited 
by the rules set in scripture ; and that where the scriptures 
are silent, there ought to be no rules made, but that all men 
should be left to their liberty; and, in particular, that the 
appointing new ceremonies looks like a reproaching of the 
apostles, as if their constitutions had been so defective, that 
those defects must be supplied by the inventions of men : 
w^iich they oppose so much the more, because they think that 
all the corruptions of popery began at some rites which seemec|^ 
at first not only innocent, but pious ; but were after wardf^f 
abused to superstition and idolatry, and swelled up to that., 
bulk as to oppress and stifle true religion with their numbe? . 
and weight. 1 
. ; A great part of this is in some respect true; yet that we may 
J.ss.<jj£Kexamine the matter methodically, we shall first consider, what 
power the church has in those matters ; and then, what rules 
she ought to govern herself by in the use of that power. It is 
very visible, that in the Gospels and Epistles there are but few 
rules laid down as to ritual matters : in the Epistles there are 
some general rules given, that must take in a great many cases;,; 
llom.xiv. such as, ^ Let all things be done to edification, to order, and 
i^Cor xi psace :' and in the Epistles to Timothy and Titus, many 
40^ ' * rules are given in such general words, as, ' Lay hands suddenly 
on no man,^ that in order to the guiding of particular cases by 
them, many distinctions and specialities were to be interposed 
to the making them practicable and useful. In matters that 
are merely ritual, the state of mankind in different climates 
and ages is apt to vary; and the same thing that in one scene 
of human nature may look grave, and seem fit for any society, 
may in another age look light, and dissipate men^s thoughts. 
It is also evident that there is not a system of rules given in 
the New Testament about all these ; and yet a due method in 
them is necessary to maintain the order and decency that be- 
come divine things. This seems to be a part of the gospel 
Gal. ii. 4. liberty, that it is not ^a law of ordinances these things 
being left to be varied according to the diversities of man- 
kind. 

The Jewish religion was delivered to one nation, and the, 
main parts of it were to be performed in one place; they were f 
also to be limited in rituals, lest they might have taken some 
practices from their neighbours round about them, and so by - 
the use of tlieir rites have rendered idolatrous practices moire,. 



— iv. 9. 
—v. 1 



THE XXMX ARTICLES. 



265 



familiar and acceptable to them : and yet they had many rites A R T. 

among them in our Saviour's time, which are not mentioned 

in any part of the Old Testament ; such was the whole con- 
stitution of their synagogues, with all the service and officers 
that belonged to them : they had a baptism among them, be- 
sides several rites added to the paschal service. Our Saviour 
reproved them for none of these ; he hallowed some of them 
to be the foederal rites of his new dispensation ; he went to 
their synagogues; and though he reproved them for overvalu- 
ing their rites, for preferring them to the laws of God, and 
making these void by their traditions, yet he does not condemn 
them for the use of them. And while of the greater precepts 
he says, ^These things ye ought to have done;' he adds con- Matt.xxiii. 
cerning their rites and lesser matters, ^and not to have left the 23. 
other undone.' 

' If then such a liberty was allowed in so limited a religion, 
if seems highly suitable to the sublimer state of the Christian 
liberty, that there should be room left for such appointments 
or alterations as the different state of times and places should 
require. In hotter countries, for instance, there is no danger 
in dipping ; but if it is otherwise in colder climates, then since 
' mercy is better than even sacrifice,' a more sparing use may Hos. vi.6. 
be made of water; aspersion may answer the true end of bap- ^att.xii.7. 
tism. A stricter or gentler discipline of offenders must be also 
pfoportioned to what the times will bear, and what men can 
be brought to submit to. The dividing of Christians into 
such districts, that they may have the best conveniences to 
assemble themselves together for worship, and for keeping 
ujp of order; the appointing the times as well as the places "''f; 
of worship, are certainly to be fixed with the best regard to / 
present circumstances that maybe. The bringing Christian 
assemblies into order and method, is necessary for their solem- 
nity, and for preventing that dissipation of thought that a 
diversity of behaviour might occasion. And though a kiss of 
peace, and an order of deaconesses, were the practices of the 
apostolical time; yet when the one gave occasion to raillery, 
and the other to scandal, all the world was, and still is, satisfied 
with the reasons of letting both fall. 

Now if churches may lay aside apostolical practices in mat- 
ters that are ritual, it is certainly much easier to justify their 
making new rules for such things ; since it is a higjfier attempt 
to alter what was settled by the apostles themselves, than to 
set up new rules in matters which they left untouched. Ha- 
bits and postures are the necessary circumstances of all public 
meetings : the times of fasting and of prayer, the days of 
thanksgiving and communions, are all of the same nature. 
The public confession of sins by scandalous persons; the 
time and manner of doing it ; the previous steps that some 
churches ^ have made for the trial of those who were to be 
received into holy orders, that so by a longer inspection into 



266 



AN EXPOSITION OF 



A R T. tlieir behaviour^ while in lower orders^ they might discover how 
fit they were to be admitted into the sacred ones ; and chiefly 
the prescribing stated forms for the several acts of religious 
worship^ and not leaving that to the capacities or humours, 
to the inventions, and often to the extravagancies, of those 
who are to officiate : all these things, I say, fall within those 
general rules given by the apostles to the churches in their 

1 Cor. xi. time : where we find that the apostles had their customs, as 
weU as the churches of God; which were then opposed to the 
innovating and the contentious humours of some factious men. 
And such a pattern have the apostles set us of complying with 
those things that are regularly settled, wheresoever we are, that 

19^23 we find they became all things to all men : to the Jews they 
became J ews though that was a religion then extinguished 
in its obligation, by the promulgation of the gospel ; and was 
then fallen under great corruption : yet, in order to the gain- 
ing of some of them, such was the spirit of charity and edifica- 
tion with which the apostles were acted, that while they were 
among them they complied in the practice of those abrogated 
rites ; though they asserted both the liberty of the Gentiles, 
and even their own, in that matter : it was only a compliance, 
and not a submission, to their opinions, that made them ob- 
serve days, and distinguish meats, while among them. If 
then such rites, and the rites of such a church, were still 
complied with by inspired men, this is an infallible pattern 
to us ; and let us see, upon how much stronger reasons we, 
who are under those obligations to unity and charity with 
all Christians, ought to maintain the unity of the body, and 
the decency and order that is necessary for peace and mutual 
edification. 

Therefore, since there is not any one thing that Christ has 
enjoined more solemnly and more frequently than love and 
charity, union and agreement, amongst his disciples ; since 

Heb.x.25. we are also required to assemble ourselves together, to con- 
stitute ourselves in a body, both for worshipping God jointly, 
and for maintaining of order and love among the society of 
Christians, we ought to acquiesce in such rules as have been 
agreed on by common consent, and which are recommended 
to us by long practice, and that are established by those who 
have the lawful authority over us. Nor can we assign any 
other bounds to our submission in this case, than those that 

Maf X gospel has limited. We must ^ obey God, rather than man 

• xxiu must in the first place ^ render to God the things that 

are God^s,^ and then ' give to Csesar the things that are Csesar's.^ 
So that if either church or state have power to make rules and 
laws in such matters, they must have this extent given them, 
that tiU they break in upon the laws of God and the gospel, 
we must be bound to obey them. A mean cannot be put 
here ; either they have no power at all, or they have a power 
that must go to every thing that is not forbid by any law of 



THE XXXIX ARTICLES. 



267 



God. This is the only measure that can be given in this ART. 
matter. 

But a great diiference is here to be made between those 
rules that both church and state ought to set to themselves 
in their enacting of such matters^ and the measures of the 
obedience of subjects : the only question in the point of obe- 
dience must be^ lawful or unlawful. For expedient or inexpe- _ ,^ ^ 
dient ought never to be brought into question^ as to the point 
of obedience ; since no inexpediency whatsoever can balance 
the breaking of order^ and the dissolving the constitution and 
society. This is a consideration that arises out of a man's 
apprehensions of the fitness or usefulness of things ; in which 
though he might be in the right as to the antecedent fitness 
of them^ and yet even there he may be in the wrong, and in 
common modesty every man ought to think that it is more 
likely that he should be in the wrong, than the governors and 
rulers of the society ; yet, I say, allowing all this, it is certain 
that order and obedience are, both in their own nature, and in 
their consequences, to be preferred to all the particular con- 
siderations of expediency or inexpediency. Yet still those 
in whose hands the making of those rules is put, ought to 
carry their thoughts much further: they ought to consider 
well the genius of the Christian religion, and therefore they 
are to avoid every thing that may lead to idolatry, or feed 
superstition ; every thing that is apt to be abused to give false 
ideas of God, or to make the world think that such instituted 
practices may balance the violation of the laws of God. They 
ought not to overcharge the worship of God with too great a 
number of them : the rites ought to be grave, simple, and 
naturally expressive of that which is intended by them. Vain 
pomp and indecent levity ought to be guarded against ; and 
next to the honour of God and religion, the peace and edifica- 
tion of the society ought to be chiefly considered. Due regard 
ought to be had to what men can bear, and what may be most 
suitable to the present state of the whole ; and finally, a great 
respect is due to ancient and established practices. Antiquity 
does generally beget veneration ; and the very changing of 
what has been long in use does naturally startle many, and 
discompose a great part of the body. So all changes, unless 
the expediency of making them is upon other accounts very 
visible, labour under a great prejudice with the more staid 
sort of men ; for this very reason, because they are changes. 
But in this matter, no certain or mathematical rules can be 
given : every one of these that has been named is capable of 
that variety, by the diversity of times and other circum- 
stances ; that since prudence and discretion must rule the use 
that is to be made of them, that must be left to the conscience 
and prudence of every person who may be concerned in the 
management of this authority. He must act as he will answer 
it to God and to the church; for he must be at liberty in 



268 ^^M^ffi^OSlTlON OF 

/nil' ^ 

ARt. applying tliose general rules to particular times kn^"ca^e§l 
And a temper must be observed : we must avoid a siillen 
adhering to things because they were once settled, as if points 
of honour were to be maintained here ; and that it looked like 
a reproaching a constitution, or the wisdom of a former age, 
to alter what they did ; since it is certain that what was wisely 
ordered in one time, may be as wisely changed in another : 
as, on the other hand, aU men ought to avoid the imputation 
of a desultory levity ; as if they loved changes for changes^ 
sake. This might give occasion to our adversaries to triumph 
over us, and might also fill the minds of the weaker among 
ourselves with apprehensions and scruples. 

The next particular asserted in this Article is. That the 
church hath authority in matters of faith. Here a distinction 
is to be made between an authority that is absolute, and 
founded on infallibility, and an authority of order. The for- 
mer is very formally disclaimed by our church; but the 
second may be well maintained, though we assert no unerring 
authority. Every single man has a right to search the scrip- 
tures, and to take his faith from them ; yet it is certain that 
he may be mistaken in it. It is therefore a much surer way 
for numbers of men to meet together, and to examine such 
differences as happen to arise ; to consider the arguments of 
all hands, with the importance of such passages of scripture 
as are brought into the controversy ; and thus to inquire into 
the whole matter : in which as it is very natural to think that 
a gr^at company of men should see further than a less number j 
so there is all reason to expect a good issue of such delibera- 
tions, if men proceed in them with due sincerity and diligence ; 
if pride, faction, and interest, do not sway their councils, and 
if they Seek for truth more than for victory. 

But what abuses soever may have crept since into the pub- 
lic consultations of the clergy, the apostles at first met and 
Act XV. 6. consulted together upon that controversy which was then 
moved concerning the imposing the Mosaical law upon the 
Gentiles : they ordered the pastors of the church to be able 
Titus i. 9. to convince gainsayers, and not to reject a man as a heretic, 
—111.10. till after a first and a second admonition. The most likely 
method both to find out the truth, and to bring such as are 
m error over to it, is to consult of these matters in common ^ 
and that openly and fairly. For if every good man, that prays 
earnestly to God for the assistance and direction of his Spirit, 
has reason to look for it; much more may a body of pastors, 
brought together to seek out the truth, in any point under 
debate, look for it, if they bring with them sincere and unpre- 
judiced minds, and do pray earnestly to God. In that case^ 
they may expect to be directed and assisted of him. But this 
depends upon the purity of their hearts, and the earnestness 
of their endeavours and prayers. 

When any synod of the clergy has so far examined a point. 



THE XXXIX ARTICLES. 



269 



as to settle their opinions about it^ they may certainly decree A R T. 
that such is their doctrine : and as they judge it to be more 
or less important, they may either restrain any other opinion, 
or may require positive declarations about it, either of all in 
their communion, or at least of all whom they admit to minis- 
ter in holy things. 

This is only an authority of order for the maintaining of 
union and edification : and in this a body does no more as it 
is a body, than what every single individual has a right to do 
for himself. He examines a doctrine that is laid before him, 
he forms his own opinion upon it, and pursuant to that he 
must judge with whom he can hold communion, and from 
whom he must separate. 

When such definitions are made by the body of the pastors 
of any church, all persons within that church do owe great 
respect to their decision. Modesty must be observed in des- 
canting upon it, and in disputing about it. Every man that 
folds his own thoughts differ from it, ought to examine the 
matter over again, with much attention and care, freeing him- 
self all he can from prejudice and obstinacy ; with a just dis- 
trust of his own understanding, and an humble respect to the 
j^idgment of his superiors. 

This is due to the considerations of peace and union, 
and to that authority which the church has to maintain it. 
But if, after all possible methods of inquiry, a man cannot 
master his thoughts, or make them agree with the public 
decisions, his conscience is not under bonds; since this au- 
thority is not absolute, nor grounded upon a promise of infal- 
libility. 

This is a tenet that, with relation to national churches and 
their decisions, is held by the church of Rome, as well as by 
us : for they place infallibility either in the pope, or in the 
universal church : but no man ever dreamt of infallibility in 
a particular or national church : and the point in this Article 
is only concerning particular churches ; for the head of gene- 
ral councils comes in upon the next. That no church can add 
any thing as necessary to salvation, has been already considered 
upon the sixth Article. 

^. It is certain, that as we owe our hopes of salvation only to 
Christ, and to what he has done for us ; so also it can belong 
only to him, who procured it to us, to fix the terms upon which 
we may look for it : nor can any power on earth clog the offers 
that he makes us in the gospel, with new or other terms than 
those Avhich we find made there to us. There can be no dis- 
pute about this : for unless we believe that there is an infal- 
lible authority lodged in the church, to explain the scripture, 
and to declare tradition ; and unless we believe that the scrip- 
lures are both ol)scure and defective, and that the one must 
be helped l)y an infallible commentary, and the other supplied 



270 



AN EXPOSITION OF 



ART. by an authentical declarer of tradition ; we cannot ascribe an 
authority to the churchy either to contradict the scripture, ©r 
to add necessary conditions of salvation to it. 

We own, after all, that the church is the depository of the 
whole scriptures, as the Jews were of the Old Testament : 
but in that instance of the Jews, we may see that a body of 
men may be faithful in the copying of a book exactly, and in 
the handing it down without corrupting it, and yet they may 
be mistaken in the true meaning of that which they preserve 
Rom.iii.2. so faithfully. They are expressly called ^the keepers of the 
oracles of God;^ and are nowhere reproved for having at- 
tempted upon this depositum: and yet for all that fidelity 
they fell into great errors about some of the most important 
parts of their religion : which exposed them to the rejecting 
the Messias, and to their utter ruin. 

The church's being called the witness of holy writ, is not 
to be resolved into any judgment that they pass upon it as a 
body of men that have authority to judge and give sentence, 
so that the canonicalness or the uncanonicalness of any book 
shall depend upon their testimony : but is resolved into this, 
that such successions and numbers of men, whether of the laity 
or clergy, have in a course of many ages had these books pre- 
served and read among them; so that it was not possible to 
corrupt that upon which so many men had their eyes in all 
the corners and ages of Christendom. 

And thus we believe the scriptures to be a book written by 
inspired men, and delivered by them to the church, upon the 
testimony of the church that at first received it; knowing 
that those great matters of fact, contained and appealed to in 
it, were true : and also upon the like testimony of the suc- 
ceeding ages, who preserved, read, copied, and translated that 
book, as they had received it from the first. 

The church of Rome is guilty of a manifest circle in this 
matter: for they say they believe the scriptures upon the au- 
thority of the church, and they do again believe the authority 
of the church, because of the testimony of the scripture con- 
cerning it. 

This is as false reasoning as can be imagined : for nothing 
can be proved by another authority till that authority is first 
fixed and proved: and therefore if the testimony of the 
church is believed to be sacred, by virtue of a divine grant to 
it, and that from thence the scriptures have their credit and 
authority, then the credit due to the church's testimony is 
antecedent to the credit of the scripture; and so must not 
be proved by any passages brought from it ; otherwise that 
is a manifest circle. But no circle is committed in our way, 
who do not prove the scriptures from any supposed authority 
in the church, that has handed them down to us ; but only as 
they are vast companies of men, who cannot be presumed to 



THE XXXIX ARTICLES. 



271 



have been guilty of any fraud in this matter; it appearing ^ ? 

further to be morally impossible for any that should have '_ 

attempted a fraud in it, to have executed it. When there- 
fore the scripture itself is proved by moral arguments of this 
kind, we may, according to the strictest rules of reasoning, 
examine what authority the scripture gives to the pastors of 
the church met in lesser or greater councils., 



272 



AN EXPOSITION OF 



ART. 

• barring r. - ^ '^t 

ARTICLE XXI. < 

Of the Authority of General Councils. 

General CouuciB map not be gati^eretf together bitj^out ti)t Com^^ 
mantrment mxH totU of 3^vina!S, '^nti iujen t\)w be gatjevetr 
together (forai^muc]^ a^ tl)ep be an ^slielemblp of jken luI)ereof all 
be not gobernetr h)iti) tje ^pmt antr Wortr of (J^oti) tjei) map 
err, anU iSometimej; ]^abe erretf eben in tljingsi pertaining unto 
^otr. OTj^erefore tjmgjl ortrainetr bp tl)em ajl neceslsiarp to ^al^^ 
batton, i^abe neitl^er ^trengt]^ nor ^utl^oritp, unless; it map be 
Ueclaretf tj^at tl)ep are taken out of flolp ^cripturejg. 

There are two particulars settled in this Article: the one^ 
is, the power of calling of councils^ at leasts an assertion thai> 
they cannot be called without the will of princes : the other 
is^ the authority of general councils^ that they are not infalli- 
ble, and that some have erred: and therefore the inference is 
justly made, that whatever authority they may have in the 
rule and government of the church, their decisions in matters 
necessary to salvation ought to be examined by the word of 
God, and are not to be submitted to, unless it appears that 
they are conform to the scripture. 

The first of these is thus proved : clergymen are subject to 
Rom. xiii. their princes, according to these words, ^ Let every soul be 
^' subject to the higher powers :' if they are then subject to 

them, they cannot be obliged to go out of their dominions 
upon the summons of any other ; their persons being under 
the laws and authority of that country to which they belong. 

This is plain, and seems to need no other proof. It is 
very visible how much the peace of kingdoms and states is 
concerned in this point: for if a foreign power should call 
their clergy away at pleasure, they might be not only left in a 
great destitution as to religious performances, but their clergy 
might be practised upon, and sent back to them with such 
notions, and upon such designs, that, chiefly supposing the im- 
munity of their persons, they might become, as they often were 
in dark and ignorant ages, the incendiaries of the world, and 
the disturbers and betrayers of their countries. This is con- 
> firmed by the practice of the first ages, after the church had 
the protection of Christian magistrates : in these the Roman 
emperors called the first general councils, which is expressly 
mentioned not only in the histories of the councils, but in 
their acts; where we find both the writs that summoned 
them, and their letters, sometimes to the emperors, and 
sometimes to the churches, which do all set forth their being 
summoned by the sacred authority of their emperors, without 



Trie X^iS^^lt^lCLES. 



mentioning any other. In caUing some of these councils^ it A^R Ti 
does not appear that the pojies were much consulted ; and in ^ 
others we find popes indeed supphcating the emperors to call 
a council^ but nothing that has so much as a shadow of their 
pretending to an authority to summon it themselves. 

This is a thing so plain^ and may be so soon seen into by 
any person who will be at the pains to turn to the editions of, 
the first four general councils made by themselves^ not ta 
mention those that followed in the Greek church, that the 
confidence with v^diich it has been asserted, that they were 
summoned by the jDopes, is an instance to shew us that there 
is nothing at which men, who are once engaged, will stick 
when their cause requires it. But even since the popes have 
got this matter into their own hands, though they summon 
the council, yet they do not pretend to it, nor expect that the 
world would receive a council as general, or submit to it, unless 
the princes of Christendom should allow of it, and consent to 
the publication of the bull. So that, by reason of this, coun- 
cils are now become almost unpracticable things. 

When all Christendom was included within the Roman 
empire, then the calling of a council lay in the breast and 
power of one man ; and, during the ages of ignorance and su- 
perstition, the world was so subjected to the pope^s authority, 
that princes durst seldom oppose their summons, or deny 
their bishops leave to go when they were so called. But after 
the scandalous schism in the popedom,* in which there were 

* ' After the death of Gregory XL (which happened in the year 1378) the car- 
dinals assembled to consult about choosing a successor, when the people of Rome, 
fearing lest the vacant dignity should be conferred on a Frenchman, came in a 
tumultuous manner to the conclave, and with great clamours, accompanied with 
many outrageous threatenings, insisted that an Italian should be advanced to the 
popedom. The cardinals, terrified by this uproar, immediately proclaimed Bar- 
tholomew de Pergnano, who was a Neapolitan, and archbishop of Bari, and as- 
sumed the name of Urban VI. This new pontiff, by his unpolite behaviour, inju- 
dicious severity, and intolerable arrogance, had made himself many enemies among 
people of all ranks, and especially among the leading cardinals. These latter, 
therefore, tired of his insolence, withdrew from Rome to Agnoeni, and from thence 
to Pondi, a city in the kingdom of Naples, where they elected to the pontificatey 
Robert, count of Geneva, who took the name of Clement VII,, and declared, at. 
the same time, that the election of Urban was nothing more than a mere ceremony, 
which they had found themselves obliged to perform, in order to calm the turbulent 
rage of the populace. Which of these two is to be considered as the true ajnd 
lawful pope, is, to this day, matter of doubt; nor will the records or writings.,,^ 
alleged by the contending parties, enable us to adjust that point with any certainty. ' 
Urban remained at Rome : Clement went to Avignon in Prance. His cause was 
espoused by France and Spain, Scotland, Sicily, and Cyprus, while all the rest of 
Europe acknowledged Urban to be the true Vicar of Christ. 

' Thus the union of the Latin church under one head was destroyed at the death 
of Gregory XL, and was succeeded by that deplorable dissension commonly known 
by the name of the Great Western Schism. This dissension was fomented with 
such dreadful success, and arose to such a shameful height, that, for the space of 
fifty years, the church had two or three different heads at the same time ; each of 
the contending popes foming plots, and thundering out anathemas against their 
competitors.' ...... 

' * The great purpose that was aimed at in the convocation of this grand assembly 
(the council of Constance, A. D. 1414) was the healing of the schism that had so 
long rent the papacy -. and this purpose was happily accomplished. It was solemnly 

T 



274 



AN EXPOSITION OF 



A R T. for a great while two popes, and at last three at a time, coun- 
cils began to pretend that the power of governing the church, 
and of censuring, depriving, and making of popes, was radi- 
cally in them, as representing the universal church : so they 
fell upon methods to have frequent councils, and that whether 
both popes and princes should oppose it or not ; for they de- 
clared both the one and the other to be fallen from their dig-, 
nity, that should attempt to hinder it. Yet they carried the 
claim of the freedom of elections, and of the other ecclesiasti- 
cal immunities, so high, that all that followed upon this was, 
that the popes being terrified with the attempts begun at Con- 
stance, and prosecuted at Basil and Pisa, took pains to have 
princes on their side, and then made bargains and concordates 
with them, by which they divided all the rights of the church, 
at least the pretensions to them, between themselves and the 
princes. Matters of gain and advantage were reserved to the. 
see of Rome ; but the points of power and jurisdiction were, 
generally given up to the princes. The temporal authority, 
has by that means prevailed over the spiritual, as much as 
the spiritual authority had prevailed over the temporal for 
several ages before. Yet the pretence of a general council is 
still so specious, that all those in the Roman communion 
that do not acknowledge the infalhbility of their popes, do still 
support this pretension, that the infallibility is given by Christ 
to his church; and that in the interval of councils it is in the 
community of the bishops and pastors of the church ; and that 
when a council meets, then the infalhbiUty is lodged with it; 

Acts XV. according to that, It seemed good to the Holy Ghost, at^ 

28. to us.^ 

The first thing to be settled in every question is the mean- 



declared, in. the fourth and fifth sessions of this council, by two decrees, that the 
Ronaan pontiff was inferior and subject to a general assembly of the universal 
church ; and the authority of councils was vindicated and maintained by the same 
decrees in the most effectual manner. This vigorous proceeding prepared the way 
for the degradation of John XXIII., who, during the twelfth session, was unani- 
mously deposed from the pontificate on account of several flagitious crimes that 
were laid to his charge, and more especially on account of the scandalous violation 
of a solemn engagement he had taken, about the beginning of the council, to resign 
the papal chair if that should appear necessary to the peace of the church ; which 
engagement he broke some weeks after, by a clandestine flight. In the same year 
(1415) Gregory XII. sent to the council Charles de Malatesta, to make in his 
name, and as his proxy, a solemn and voluntary resignation of the pontificate. 
About two years after this, Benedict XIII, was deposed by a solemn resolution of 
the council, and Otto de Colonna raised, by the unanimous suffrages of the cardinals, 
to the high dignity of head of the church, which he ruled under the title of Mar- 
tin V. Benedict, who resided still at Perpignan, was far from being disposed to 
submit either to the decree of the council which deposed him, or to the determina- 
tion of the cardinals, with respect to his successor. On the contrary, he persisted 
until the day of his death, which happened in the year 1423, in assuming the title, 
the prerogatives, and the authority, of the papacy. And when this obstinate man 
was dead, a certain Spaniard, named Giles Munios, was chosen pope in his place, 
by two cardinals, under the auspicious patronage of Alphonsus king of Sicily, and 
adopted the title of Clement VIII. ; but this sorry pontiff, in the year 1429, was 
persuaded to i-esign his pretensions to the papacy, and to leave the government of 
the church tc Martin V.' Mos/(e/m. — [Ed.] 



THE XXXIX ARTICLES. 



275 



iiig of the terms : so we must begin and examine what makes A R T. 
a general council ; whether all the bishops must be present in '• 
person, or by proxy ? And what share the laity, or the princes 
that are thought to represent their people, ought to have in a 
council ? It is next to be considered, whether a general citation 
is enough to make a council general, were the appearance of 
the bishops ever so small at their first opening ? It is next to 
be considered, whether any come thither and sit there as re- 
presenting others ; and if votes ought to be reckoned accord- 
ing to the numbers of the bishops, or of the others who de- 
pute and send them ? And whether nations ought to vote in a 
body as integral parts of the church ; or every single bishop 
by himself? And finally, whether the decisions of councils 
must be unanimous, before they can be esteemed infalhble ? 
or whether the major vote, though exceeding only by one, or 
if some greater inequality is necessary ; such as two-thirds, or: 
any other proportion ? That there maybe just cause of raising 
scruples upon every one of these, is apparent at first view. It 
is certain, a bare name cannot qualify a number of bishops 
sitting together, to be this general council. The number of 
bishops does it not neither. A hundred and fifty was a small 
number at Constantinople: even the famous three hundred' 
and eighteen at Nice were far exceeded by those at Arimini. 
All the first general councils were made up for the most part 
of eastern bishops ; there being a very inconsiderable number 
of the western among any of them ; scarce any at all being to 
be found in some. If this had been the body to whom Christ 
had left this infallibility, it cannot be imagined but that some 
definition or description of the constitution of it would have 
been given us in the scripture : and the profound silence that 
is about it gives just occasion to think, that how wise and how 
good soever such a constitution may be, if well pursued, yet it 
is not of a divine institution; otherwise somewhat concerning 
so important a head as this is must have been mentioned in 
the scripture. 

The natural idea of a general council, is a meeting of all the 
bishops of Christendom, or at least of proxies instructed by 
them and their clergy. Now if any will stand to this descrip- 
tion, then we are very sure that there was never yet a true 
general council; which will appear to every one that reads the 
subscriptions of the councils. Therefore w^e must conclude, 
that general councils are not constituted by a divine authority; 
since we have no direction given us from God, by which we 
may know what they are, and what is necessary to their con- 
stitution. And we cannot suppose that God has granted any 
privileges, much less infallibihty, which is the greatest of all, 
to a body of men, of whom, or of whose constitution, he has 
said nothing to us. For suppose we should yield that there 
were an infallibility lodged in general in the church diffusive, 
so that the church in some part or other shall be always pre- 

T 2 



276 "ffJ^MikPOSITION OF^ ^ 

!l i' O . • i- ■ i 

AMT. served from error ; yet the restraining -'ffii^'^ f^ 

number of such bishops as shall happen to come to a council^"^ 
they living perhaps near it^ or being more capable and more 
forward to undertake a journey^ being healthier^ richer^ or more 
active, than others ; or, which is as probable, because it has 
often fallen out, they being picked out by parties or princes to 
carry on cabals, and manage such intrigues as may be on foot 
at the council ; the restraining the infallibility, I say, to the 
greater number of such persons, unless there is a divine au7^ 
thority for doing it, is the transferring the infallibility froni 
the whole body to a select number of persons, who of them- 
selves are the least likely to consent to the engrossing this 
privilege to the majority of their body, it being their interest 
to maintain their right to it, free from intrigue or management;! 

We need not wonder if such things have happened in the' 
latter ages, when Nazianzen laments the corruptions, the am- 
bition, and the contentions, that reigned in those assemblies in 
his own time ; so that he never desired to see any more of 
them. He was not only present at one of the general coun- 
cih, but he himself felt the effects of jealousy and violence 
in it. 

Further, it will appear a thing incredible, that there is att 
infallibility in councils because they are called general, and ari^' 
assembled out of a great many kingdoms and provinces ; wheii 
we see them go backward and forward, according to the influ- 
ences of courts, and of interests directed from thence. We 
know how differently councils decreed in the Arian controver-- 
sies ; and what a variety of them Constantius set up against 
that at Nice. So it was in the Eutychian heresy, approved 
in the second council at Ephesus, but soon after condemned 
at Chalcedon. So it was in the business of images, con- 
demned at Constantinople in the east ; but soon after upon 
another change at court maintained in the second at Nice; 
and not long after condemned in a very numerous council at 
Francfort. And in the point in hand, as to the authority of 
councils, it was asserted at Constance and Basil, but con- 
demned in the Lateran ; and was upon the matter laid aside 
at Trent. Here were great numbers of all hands ; both sides 
took the name of general councils. 

It will be a further prejudice against this, if we see great 
violence and disorders entering into the management of some 
councils ; and craft and artifice into the conduct of others. 
Numbers of factious and furious monks came to some councils, 
and drove on matters by their clamours; so it was at Ephesus. 
We see gross fraud in the second at Nice, both in the persons 
set up to represent the absent patriarchs, and in the books 
and authorities that were vouched for the worship of images. 
The intrigues at Trent, as they are set out even by cardinal 
Pallavicini, were more subtile, but not less apparent, nor less 
scandalous. Nothing was trusted to a session, till it was first 



THE XXXIX ARTICLES. 



canvassed in congregations ; which w^re what a committee of A R T. 
the whole house is in our parhaments; and then every man^s 
vote was known ; so that there was hereby great occasion given 
for practice. This alone^ if there had been no more^ shew6d 
plainly that they themselves knew they were not guided by 
the Spirit of God, or by infaUibility ; since a session was not 
thought safe to be ventured on, but after a long previous can- 
vassing. 

Another question remains yet to be cleared, concerning 
their manner of proceeding; whether the infallibility is affixed 
to their vote, whatsoever their proceedings may be? or whether 
they are bound to discuss matters fully? The first cannot be 
said, unless it is pretended that they vote by a special inspi- 
ration. If the second is allowed, then we must examine 
both what makes a full discussion ; and whether they have 
made it ? 

If we find opinions falsely represented; if books that are 
spurious have been relied on ; if passages of scripture, or of 
the fathers, on which it appears the stress of the decision has 
turned, have been manifestly misunderstood and wrested, so 
that in a more enlightened age no person pretends to justify 
the authority that determined them, can we imagine that there 
should be more truth in their conclusions, than we do plainly 
see was in the premises out of which they were drawn ? So 
it must either be said, that they vote by an immediate inspi- 
ration, or all persons cannot be bound to submit to their 
judgment till they have examined their methods of proceeding, 
and the grounds on which they went : and when all is done, 
the question comes, concerning the authority of such decrees 
after they are made ; whether it follows immediately upon 
their being made, or must stay for the confirmatory bulls ? If 
it must stay for the bull, then the infallibility is not in the 
council: and that is only a more solemn way of preparing 
matters in order to the laying them before the pope. If they 
are infallible before the confirmation, then the infallibility is 
wholly in the council; and the subsequent bull does, instead of 
confirming their decrees, derogate much from them: for to pre- 
tend to confirm them, imports that they wanted that addition of 
authority, which destroys the supposition of their infallibility, 
since what is infallible cannot be made stronger; and the pre- 
tending to add strength to it, implies that it is not infallible. 
Human constitutions may be indeed so modelled, that there 
must be a joint concurrence before a law can be made: and 
though it is the last consent that settles the law, yet the pre- 
vious consents were necessary steps to the giving it the autho- 
rity of a law. 

And thus it is not to be denied, but that, as to the matters 
of government, the church may cast herself into such a model, 
that as by a decree of the council of Nice the bishops of a pro- 
vince might conclude nothing without the consent of the 



278 



AN EXPOSITION OF 



metropolitan; so another decree might even limit a general 
council to stay for the consent of one or more patriarchs. 
But this must only take place in matters of order and govern- 
ment^ which are left to the disposal of the churchy but not in 
decisions about matters of faith. For if there is an infallibility 
in the church_, it must be derived from a special grant made 
by Christ to his church: and it must go according to the 
nature of that grants unless it can be pretended that there is a 
clause in that grant, empowering the church to dispose of it, 
and model it at pleasure. For if there is no such power, as 
it is plain there is not, then Christ's grant is either to a single 
person, or to the whole community : if to a single person, then 
the infallibility is wholly in him, and he is to manage it as he 
thinks best : for if he calls a council, it is only an act of his hu- 
mility and condescension, to hear the opinions of many in differ- 
ent corners of the church, that so he may know all that comes 
from all quarters : it may also seem a prudent way to make 
his authority to be the more easily borne and submitted to, 
since what is gently managed is best obeyed : but after all, 
these are only prudential and discreet methods. The infalli- 
bility must be only in him, if Christ has by the grant tied him 
to such a succession. Whereas on the other hand, if the in- 
fallibihty is granted to the whole community, or to their repre- 
sentatives, then all the applications that they may make to any 
one see must only be in order to the execution of their decrees, 
like the addresses that they make to princes for the civil sanc- 
tion. But still the infallibility is where Christ put it. It rests 
wholly in their decision, and belongs only to that : and any 
other confirmation that they desire, unless it be restrained 
singly to the execution of their decrees, is a wound given by 
themselves to their own infallibility, if not a direct disclaim- 
ing of it. 

When the confirmation of the council is over, a new diffi- 
culty arises concerning the receiving the decrees: and here 
it may be said, that if Christ's grant is to the whole commu- 
nity, so that a council is only the authentical declarer of the 
tradition, the whole body of the church that is possessed of 
the tradition, and conveys it down, must have a right to exa- 
mine the decision that the council has made, and so is not 
bound to receive it, but as it finds it to be conformable to 
tradition. 

Here it is to be supposed, that every bishop, or at the least 
all the bishops of any national church, know best the tradi- 
tion of their own church and nations and so they will have a 
right to re-examine things after they have been adjudged in a 
general council. 

This will entirely destroy the whole pretension to infallibi- 
lity : and yet either this ought to have been done after the 
councils at Arimini, or the second of Ephesus, or else the 
world must have received semi-Arianism, or Eutychianism, 



THE XXXIX ARTICLES. 



279 



implicitly from them. It is also no small prejudice against A R T. 
this opinion^ that the church was constituted^, the scriptures 
were received^ many heresies were rejected^ and the persecu- 
tions were gone through, in a course of three centuries ; in all 
which time there was nothing that could pretend to be called 
a general council. And when the ages came, in which coun- 
cils met often, neither the councils themselves, who must be 
supposed to understand their own authority best, nor those 
who wrote in defence of their decrees, who must be supposed 
to be inchned enough to magnify their authority, being of the 
same side ; neither of these, I say, ever pretended to argue for 
their opinions, from the infaUibility of those councils that de- 
creed them. 

They do indeed speak of them with great respect, as of 
bodies of men that were guided by the Spirit of God : and 
so do we of our reformers, and of those who prepared our 
Liturgy : but we do not ascribe infallibility to them, and no 
more did they. Nor did they lay the stress of their argu- 
ments upon the authority of such decisions ; they knew that 
the objection might have been made as strong against them, 
as they could put the argument for them ; and therefore they 
offered to wave the point, and to appeal to the scripture^ set- 
ting aside the definitions that had been made in councils both 
ways. 

To conclude this argument. Jiijui dbi qho 

If the infalhbility is supposed to be in coundife^ then tile 
church may justly apprehend that she has lost it : for as there 
has been no council that has pretended to that title, now during 
one hundred and thirty years, so there is no great probability 
of our ever seeing another. The charge and noise, the expecta- 
tions and disappointments, of that at Trent, has taught the 
world to expect nothing from one : they plainly see that the 
management from Rome must carry every thing in a council : 
neither princes nor people, no nor the bishops themselves, 
desire or expect to see one. 

The claim set up at Rome for infallibihty makes the de- 
mand of one seem not only needless there, but to imply a 
doubting of their authority, when other methods are looked 
after, which will certainly be always unacceptable to those 
who are in possession, and act as if they were infalUble : nor 
can it be apprehended, that they will desire a council to re- 
form those abuses in discipline, which are all occasioned by 
that absolute and universal authority of which they are now 
possessed. 

So by all the judgments that can be made from the state 
of things, from the interests of men, and the last manage- 
ment at Trent, one may without a spirit of prophecy con- 
clude^ that, unless Christendom puts on a new face, there 
mil be no more general councils. And so here infallibility 



280 



AN EXPOSITION OF ^ 



A R T. is at an end^ and has left the church at least for a very Jong 
interval. ,i7 ysdi 

It remains that those passages should be considered tlmti.) 
Matt, xviii. are brought to support this authority. Christ says^ ^ Tell thei! 
church ; and if he neglects to hear the church, let him be unto 
thee as a heathen man, and a publican.^ 

These words in themselves, and separated from all that 
went before, seem to speak this matter very fully : but when 
the occasion of them, and the matter that is treated of in 
them, are considered, nothing can be plainer than that our 
Saviour is speaking of such private differences as may arise 
among men, and of the practice of forgiving injuries, and com- 
posing their differences. ^ If thy brother sin against thee 
first, private endeavours were to be used ; then the interposi- 
tion of friends was to be tried ; and finally, the matter was to 
be referred to the body, or assembly, to which they belonged : 
and those who could not be gained by such methods, were no 
more to be esteemed brethren, but were to be looked on as 
very bad men, like heathens. They might upon such refrac- 
toriness be excommunieated, and prosecuted afterwards in 
temporal courts, since they had by their perverseness forfeited 
all sort of right to that tenderness and charity that is due to 
true Christians. 

This exposition does so fully agree to the occasion and 
scope of these words, that there is no colour of reason to carry 
them further.* 

The character given to the church of Ephesus, in St. 
1 Tim. iii. Paul's Epistle to Timothy, that it was ^the pillar and groun^w 
of trutlV is a figurative expression? and it is never safe t^q 
build upon metaphors, much less to lay much weight upon-js 
them. 

The Jews described their synagogues by such honourable 
characters, in which it is known how profuse all the eastern 
nations are. These are by St. Paul applied to the church of 
Ephesus : for he there speaks of the church where Timothy 
was then, in which he instructs him to behave himself well. 
It has visibly a relation to those inscriptions that were made 
on pillars which rested upon firm pedestals : but whatsoever 
the strict importance of the metaphor may be, it is a meta- 
phor, and therefore it can be no argument. Christ's promise 
John xvi. of the Spirit to his apostles, that should ^lead them into all 

13. 

* ' But the command to tell the offence of our private brother is not a command 
to tell it to the church catholic met in council ; for then this precept could not 
have been obeyed for the first three centuries, no such council ever meeting- till the 
time of Constantine. Then, secondly, the church must alw^ays be assembled in 
such a council, because doubtless there are, and will be always, persons thus 
offending against their Christian brethren. And thirdly, then every private person 
must be obliged, at what distance soever he be from it, and how unable soever he 
may be to do so, to travel to this council, and lay his private grievance before 
them : all which are palpable absurdities.' Whkby. — [Ed.] 



THE XXXIX ARTICLES. 281 



truth/ relates visibly to that extraordinary inspiration by which A R i". 
they were to be acted, and that was, ^ to shew them things to 
come so that a succession of prophecy may be inferred from 
these words, as well as of infallibility. " ^ 

Those words of our Sa^dour, with which St. Matthew con- Mat.xxviii. 
eludes Lis Gospel, '^Lo, I am with you always, even to the 
end of the Avorld,' infer no infallibility, but only a promise 
of assistance and protection : which was a necessary encou- 
ragement to the apostles, when they were sent upon so labo- 
rious a commission, that was to involve them in so much 
danger. God^s ' being with any,^ his ^walking with them,^ his '^q^^' 
' being in the midst of them,^ his never leaving nor forsaking 
them,^ are expressions often used in the scripture, which 5. 
signify no more but God^s watchful providence, guiding, sup- 
porting, and protecting his people : all this is far from infalli- 
bility. 

The last objection to be proposed is that which seems to 
relate most to the point in hand, taken from the decree made 
by a council at Jerusalem, which begins, ^ It seemed good to ^^^^ 
the Holy Ghost, and to us from which, they infer, that the 
Holy Ghost is present with councils, and that what seems 
good to them is also approved by the Holy Ghost. But it 
will not be easy to prove that this was such a council, as to be 
a pattern to succeeding ones to coj^y after it. We find bre- 
thren are here joined with the apostles themselves : now since ''^ 
these were no other than the laity, here an inference will be 
made, that will not easily go down. If they sat and voted 
with the apostles, it will seem strange to deny them the same 
privilege among bishops. By elders here it seems presbyters 
are meant, and this WUI give them an entrance into a general 
council, out of which they cannot be well excluded, if the laity - 
arfe adrnitted. But here was no citation, no time given to all 
churches to send their bishops or proxies: it was an occasional ' 
meeting of such of the apostles as happened to be then at Je-!^^ 
rusalem, who called to them the elders or presbyters, and other '^ 
Christians at .lerusalem: for the Holy Ghost was then poured J 
out so plentifully on so many, that no wonder if there were ^ 
then about that truly mother church a great many of both 
sorts, who were of such eminence, that the apostles might 
desire them to meet and to join with them. 

The apostles were divinely assisted in the delivering that 
commission which our Saviour gave them in charge, ^ To Mark xvi. 
preach to every creature and so were infallibly assisted in ^^Cox vii 
the executing of it : yet when other matters fell in, which were e, 12 * 
no parts of that commission, they, no doubt, did as St. Paul, 
who sometimes ivrit by permission, as well as at other times 
by commandment : of which he gives notice, by saying, ^ It is 
I, and not the Lord :^ he suggested advices, which to him, 
according to his prudence and experience, seemed to be well 



282 



AN EXPOSITION O*^ 



ART. founded; and he offered them with great sincerity;' foi* though 
he had some reason to think that what he proposed^ flowed 

Yer. 40. ^^om the ^ Spirit of the Lord/ from that inspiration that was 
acting him ; yet because that did not appear distinctly to him^ 

Ver. 25. he speaks with reserves^ and says^ he Ogives his judgment as 
one that had obtained mercy of the Lord to be faithful.' So 
the apostles here^ receiving no inspiration to direct them in 
this case^ but observing well what St. Peter put them in mind 
of^ concerning God's sending him by a special vision to preach 
to the Gentiles^ and that God had poured out the Holy Ghost 
on them^ even as he had done upon the apostles, who were 

Acts XV. 9. Jews by nature, and that ^ he did put no difference in that 
between Jews and Gentiles, purifying the hearts of the Gen- 
tiles by faith :' they upon this did by their judgment conclude 
from thence, that what God had done in the particular instance 
of Cornelius, was now to be extended to all the Gentiles. So 
by this we see that those words, ^ seemed good to the Holy 
Ghost,^ relate to the case of Cornelius ; and those words, 
^ seemed good to us,' import that they resolved to extend that 
to be a general rule to all the Gentiles. 

This gives the words a clear and distinct sense, which 
agrees with all that had gone before; whereas it will other- 
wise look very strange to see them add their authority to 
that of the Holy Ghost; which is too absurd to suppose: 
nor will it be easy to give any other consisting sense to these 
words. 

H^re is no precedent of a council, much less of a general 
one: but a decision is made by men that were in other things 
divinely inspired, which can have no relation to the judgments 
of other councils. And thus it appears that none of those 
places, which are brought to prove the infalUbility of councils, 
come up to the point : for so great and so important a matter 
as this is, must be supposed to be either expressly declared in 
the scriptures, or not at all. 

The Article affirming, that some general councils have erred, 
must be understood of councils that pass for such ; and that 
may be called general councils, much better than many others 
that go by that name : for that at Arimini was both very nu- 
merous, and was drawn out of many different provinces. As 
to the strict notion of a general council, there is great reason 
to believe that there was never any assembly to which it will 
be found to agree. And for the four general councils, which 
this church declares she receives, they are received only 
because we are persuaded from the scriptures that their deci- 
sions were made according to them: that the Son is truly 
God, of the same substance with the Father. That the Holy 
Ghost is also truly God. That the divine nature was truly 
united to the human in Christ; and that in one person. That 
both natures remained distinct; and that the human nature 



THE XXXIX ARTICLES. 



283 



was not swallowed up of the divine. These truths we find in ART. 
the scriptures^ and therefore we beheve them. We reverence Jj^^' 
those councils for the sake of their doctrine; but do not believe "~" 
the doctrine for the authority of the councils. There appeared "^^^ 
too much of human frailty in some of their other proceedings, . 
to give us such an imphcit submission to them, as to believe 
things only because they so decided them. 



rati oa i 



284 



AN EXPOSITION OF 



A R T. 
XXII. 



ARTICLE XXII. 
Of Purgatory. 

:3fiT 

Cf)e Romish IBoctnne concermng ^urgator^, 3Pari(on^, Wottfl^jpf* 
pmg antr ^tioratwn, asi todl of SmageiS aiS of l^elicfeg, antr alielo 
Ifnbocation of ^amtjS, {«; a fontJ tj^ing, bamlp inbciitetJ anlf 
groutiKetJ upon no Warrant of Scripture, but ratf)cr repugnant 

to t})t mOXH of <&Oti. ' (Ifef^^tOj ^x] JU< 

There are two small variations in this Article^ from that 
published in king Edward^s reign. What is here called the 
Romish doctrine, is there called the doctrine of schoolmen. 
The plain reason of this is^ that these errors were not so fully 
espoused by the body of the Roman church, when those Arti- 
cles were first published, so that some writers that softened 
matters threw them upon the schoolmen ; and therefore the 
Article was cautiously worded, in laying them there : but before 
these that we have now were published, the decree and canons 
concerning the mass had passed at Trent, in which most of 
the heads of this Article are either affirmed or supposed 5 
though the formal decree concerning them was made some 
months after these Articles were pubfished.* This will serve 

* This point deserves serious attention. Many of those articles against which we 
protest are so far from being Catholic doctrines, that they were not defined, and there- 
fore not universally received even in the papal church until after the Reformation. 
This fact the champions of popery cannot deny. This subject is discussed by Stil-, 
lingfleet with great ability in his ' Reformation of the Church of England justified,' 
in which he thus notices the assertion that we have rejected catholic truth : — ' Ac- 
cording to your principles that which differenceth a catholic doctrine from a par- 
ticular opinion, is the chxirch's definition; before then the church had passed a 
definition in these points, they could not be held as catholic doctrines. To make 
this somewhat clearer, because it is necessary for undeceiving those who are told, 
as you tell us here, that at the Reformation we rejected such things which were 
universally owned for catholic doctrines, which is so far from being true, that it is 
impossible they should be owned for such by the church of Rome upon your own 
principles. For, I pray, tell us, are there not several sorts of opinions among you 
at this day, none of which are pretended to be catholic doctrines ? and this you con- 
stantly tell us, when we object to you your dissensions about them. As for instance, 
the pope's personal infallibility, the superiority of popes over general councils, the 
immaculate conception of the blessed Virgin, the disputes about predestination, &c. 
When we tell you of your differences in these points, you answer, that these hinder not 
the unity of the church, because these are only in matters of opinion ; and that it is 
not dejide that men should hold either way. When we demand the reason of this 
difference concerning these things, your answer is, that the church hath defined 
some things to be believed, and not others ; that what the church hath defined, is 
to be looked on as catholic doctrine, and the deniers of it are guilty of heresy ; but 
where the church hath not defined, those are not catholic doctrines, but only at 
best but pious opinions, and men may be good catholics and yet differ about them. 
I pray, tell me, is this your doctrine or is it not ? If not, there may be heretics 
within your church, as well as without. E it be your doctrine, apply it to the mat- 
ters in hand. Were these things defined by the church at the beginning of the 
Refoi'mation ? If they were, produce those definitions for all those things which 



THE XXXIX ARTICLE^. 



to justify tliat diversity. The second difference is only the ART. 
leaving out of a severe word. Pernicioush/ repugyiajit to the 
ivord of God, was put at first; hwt perniciously being considered 
to be onl)' a hard word, they judged very right in the second 
edition of them, that it was enough to say repugnant to the 
ivord of God. 

There are in this Article five particulars, that are all ingre- 
dients in the doctrine and worship of the church of Rome ; 
purgatory, pardons, the worship of images, and of relics, and 
the invocation of saints ; that are rejected not only as ill- 
grounded, brought in and maintained without good warrants 
from the scripture, but as contrary to it. 

The first of these is purgatory ; concerning which, the doc- 
trine of the church of Rome is, that every man is hable both 
to temporal and to eternal punishment for his sins; that God, 
upon the account of the death and intercession of Christ, does 
indeed pardon sin as to its eternal punishment; but the sinner 
is still liable to temporal punishment, which he must expiate 
by acts of penance and sorrow in this world, together with 
such other sufferings as God shall think fit to lay upon him : 
but if he does not expiate these in this life, there is a state of 
suffering and misery in the next world, where the soul is to 
bear the temporal punishment of its sins; which may continue 
longer or shorter, till the day of judgment. And in order to 
the shortening this, the prayers and supererogations of men 
here on earth, or the intercession of the saints in lieaven, but 
above all things, the sacrifice of the mass, are of great efficacy. 
This is the doctrine of the church of Rome, asserted in the 
councils of Florence and Trent.* What has been taught among 

you say were owned as catholic doctrines then ; that we may see, that at least in the 
judgment of your church they were accounted so. Tell us, when and where those 
doctrines were defined before the Council of Trent ? and, I hope you will not say, 
that was before the beginning of the Reformation. If then there were no such 
definitions concerning them, they could not by your church be accounted as catholic 
doctrines ; at the most, they could be but only pious opinions, as that of the pope's 
infallibillity among you is, and consequently men might be catholics still, though 
they disputed or denied them. And how then come the Protestants to be ac- 
counted heretics in their reformation, if, upon your own principles, those things 
which they denied were then no catholic doctrines ?' — [Ed,] 

* The council of Florence decreed, ' That if true penitents depart in the love of 
God, before they have satisfied for their sins of omission, or commission, by fruits 
of repentance, their souls go to purgatory to be purged.' The council of Trent 
has thus decreed concerning this doctrine : — 

' Decretum de purgatorio. 

' Cum catholica ecclesia, spiritu sancto edocta, ex sacris litteris, et antiqua 
patrum traditione, in sacris conciliis, et novissime in hac CEcumenica synodo docu- 
erit, purgatorium esse ; animasque ibi detentas, fidelium sufFragiis, potissimum vero 
acceptabili altaris sacrificio juvari ; praecipit sancta synodus episcopis, ut sanam de 
purgatorio doctrinam, a Sanctis patribus et sacris conciliis traditam, a Christi 
fidelibus credi, teneri, doceri, et ubique prsedicari diligenter studeant. Apud 
rudem vero plebem diflficiliores ac subtiliores qusestiones, quseque ad eedificationem 
non faciunt, et ex quibus plerumque nulla fit pietatis accessio, a popularibus con- 
cionibus secludantur. Incerta item, vel quae specie falsi laborant, evulgari ac trac- 
tari non permittant. Ea vero quae ad curiositatem quamdam aut superstitionem 
spectant, vel turpe lucrum sapiunt, tanquam scandala et fidelium ofFendicula pro- 
hibeant. Curent autem episcopi ut fidelium vivorum suffragia, missarum scilicet 



286 



AN EXPOSITION OF 



ART. them concerning the nature and the degrees of those torments, 
though supported by many pretended apparitions and revela- 
tions, is not to be imputed to the whole body; and is indeed 
only the doctrine of schoolmen, though it is generally preached 
and infused into the consciences of the people. Therefore I 
shall only examine that which is the established doctrine of 
the whole Roman church. And first as to the foundation of 
it, that sins are only pardoned, as to their eternal punishment, 
Rom.v. 1. to those ^who being justified by faith have peace with God 
throvigh our Lord Jesus Christ:' there is not a colour for it in 
the scriptures. Remission of sins is in general that with which 
the preaching of the gospel ought always to begin; and this is 
so often repeated, without any such reserve, that it is a high 
assuming upon God, and his attributes of goodness and mercy, 
to limit these when he has not limited them; but has ex- 
pressly said, that this is a main part of the new covenant, that 
Jer. xxxi. ^ \iq ^ji] remember our sins and iniquities no more.^ Now it 
Heb. viii. ^cems to be a maxim, not only of the law of nations, but of 
12. * nature, that all offers of pardon are to be understood in the 
full extent of the words, without any secret reserves or limita- 
tions ; unless they are plainly expressed. An indemnity being 
offered by a prince to persuade his subjects to return to their 
obedience, in the fullest words possible, without any reserves 
made in it, it would be looked on as a very perfidious thing, 
if when the subjects come in upon it, trusting to it, they should 
be told that they were to be secured by it against capital pu- 
nishments; but that, as to all inferior punishments, they were 
still at mercy. We do not dispute whether God, if he had 
thought fit so to do, might not have made this distinction ; 
nor do we deny that the grace of the gospel had been infinitely 
valuable, if it had offered us only the pardon of sin with rela- 
tion to its eternal punishment, and had left the temporal pu- 
nishment on us, to be expiated by ourselves. But then we say, 
this ought to have been expressed : the distinction ought to 
have been made between temporal and eternal: and we ought 
not to have been drawn into a covenant with God, by words 
that do plainly import an entire pardon and oblivion, upon 
which there lay a limited sense that was not to be told the 

sacrificia, orationes, eleemosynse, aliaque pietatis opera, quae a fidelibus pro aliis 
fidelibus defunctis fieri consuverunt, secundum ecclesise instituta pie et devote 
fiant ; et quae pro illis ex testatorum fundationibus, vel alia ratione debentur, non 
perfunctorie, sed a sacerdotibus, et ecclesiae ministris, et aliis, qui hoe prsestare 
tenentur, diligenter et accurate persolvantur.' — Sessio xxv. 

We see from the above how careful the council was not to entangle itself in the 
dispute respecting the nature of purgatory ; the decree simply stating that there 
is such a place. Equally vague is the article in the creed of pope Pius IV. on this 
subject. The catechism of the council of Trent made, hovvever, a bolder step, 
and has informed us that purgatory is a fire in which the souls of the faithful are 
tormented. 

' Prseterea est purgatorius ignis, quo piorum animse ad definitum tempus cru- 
ciatse, expiantur ut eis in seternam patriam ingressus patere possit, in quam nihil 
coinquinatum ingreditur.' Cat. ad Par. De Sywbolo. Art. descendit ad inferos. 
-[Ed.] 



THE XXXIX ARTICLES. ^8? 

world till it was once well engaged in the Christian religion. A R T. 
Upon these reasons it is that we conclude, that this doctrine 
not being contained in the scriptures, is not only without any 
warrant in them, but that it is contrary to those full oiFers 
of mercy, peace, and oblivion, that are made in the gospel ; 
it is contrary to the truth and veracity, and to the justice and 
goodness of God, to affirm that there are reserves to be un- 
derstood for punishments, when the offers and promises are 
made to us in such large and unlimited expressions. 

Thus we lay our foundation in this matter, which does very 
fully overthrow theirs. We do not deny but that God does 
in this world punish good men for those sins, which yet are 
forgiven them through Christ, according to those words in the 
Psalm, '^Thou wast a God that forgavest them, though thou Ps.xcix.8. 
tookest vengeance of their inventions but this is a considera- 
tion quite of another nature. God, in the government of this 
world, thinks fit, by his Providence, sometimes to interpose 
in visible blessings, as well as judgments, to shew how he 
protects and favours the good, and punishes the bad ; and 
that the bad actions of good men are odious to him, even 
though he has received their persons into his favour. He has 
also in the gospel plainly excepted the government of this 
world, and the secret methods of his Providence, out of the 
mercy that he has promised, by the warnings that are given 
to all Christians to prepare for crosses and afflictions in this 
life. He has made faith and patience in adversities a main 
condition of this new covenant ; he has declared, that these 
are not the punishments of an angry God, but the chastise- 
ments of a kind and merciful Father, who designs by them 
both to shew to the world the impartiality of his justice in 
punisliing some crying sins in a very signal manner, and to 
give good men deep impressions of their odiousness, to oblige 
them to a severer repentance for them, and to a greater watch- 
fulness against them ; as also to give the world such examples 
of resignation and patience under them, that they may edify 
others by that, as much as by their sins they may have offended 
them. So that, upon all these accounts, it seems abundantly 
clear, that no argument can be drawn from the temporal 
punishments of good men for their sins in this world, to a 
reserve of others in another state. The one are clearly men- 
tioned and reserved in the offers of mercy that are made 
in the gospel, whereas the others are not. This being the 
most plausible thing that they say for this distinction of those 
twofold punishments, it is plain that there is no foundation 
for it. 

As for those words of Christ's, '^ye shall not come out till Mat. v. 26. 
ye have paid the uttermost farthing ;' from which they would 
infer, that there is a state in which, after we shall be cast into 
prison, we are paying off our debts : this, if an argument at 
all, will prove too much; that in hell the damned are clearing 



288 



AN EXPOSITION 



ART scores ; and that they shall be deUvered when all is paid off. 
For by prison there^ that only can be meant^ as appears by the 
whole contexture of the discourse^ and by other parables of 
the like nature. It is a figure taken from a man imprisoned 
for a great debt ; and the continuance of it^ till the last far- 
thing is paid, does imply their perpetual continuance in tlvsct 
state, since the debt is too great to be ever paid off. From' ^ 
phrase in a parable, no consequence is to be drawn, beyond 
that which is the true scope of the parable, which in this par- 
ticular is only intended by our Saviour, to shew the severe 
punishment of those who hate implacably, which is a sin thai 
does certainly deserve hell, and not purgatory. 

Our Saviour^s words concerning the sin against ^ the Holjr 

Matt. xii. Ghost,^ that ' it is neither forgiven in this life, nor in that 

32. which is to come,' is also urged to prove, that some sins are 
pardoned in the next life, which are not pardoned in thi§. 
But still this will seem a stronger argument against the eteif- 
nity of hell-torments, than for purgatory ; and will rather im- 
port, that the damned may at last be pardoned their sins, since 
these are the only persons whose sins are not pardoned in this 
world; for of those who are justified, it cannot be said that 
their sins are not forgiven them, and such only go to purga^ 
tory : therefore, either this is only a general way of speaking, 
to exclude all hopes of pardon, and to imply that God^s judg^ 
ments will pursue such blasphemers, both in this life, and ift 
the next ; or, if we will understand them more critically, by 
this life, or this age, and the next, according to a common 
opinion and phrase of the Jews, which is founded on the pro- 
phecies, are to be understood the dispensation of the Law, and 
the dispensation of the Messias ; the age to come being a com- 
mon phrase for the times of the Messias; according to those 

Heb. ii. 5. words in the Epistle to the Hebrews, ^ He hath not put iii 
subjection to angels the Avorld to come.' By the Mosaicai 
law, sacrifices were only received, and by consequence parilon 
was offered for sins of a less heinous nature ; but those that 
were more heinous were to be punished by death, or by cut- 
ting 0^ without mercy; whereas a full promise of the pardoA 
of all sins is offered in the gospel : so that the meaning of 
these words of Christ's is, that such a blasphemy was a sin 
not only beyond the pardon offered in the Law of MoseSj 
which was the age that then was ; but that it was a sin beyond 
that pardon which was to be offered by the Messias in the age 
to come, thdit is, in the kingdom of heaven, that was then at 
hand. But these words can by no means be urged to prove 
this distinction of temporal and eternal punishment; there- 

Lukexxiv. fore we must conclude, that since ^repentance and remission 
of sins' are joined together in the first commission to preach 
the gospel; and since life, peace, and salvation, are promised 

.itiy:? ^ to such as believe, that all this is to be understood simply and 
plainly, without any other limitation or exception than that 



THE XXXIX ARTICLES. 



289 



which is expressed^ which is only of such chastisements^ as ^^ Jj 

God thinks fit to exercise good men with in this hfe, ^ to ^ ;__ 

In the next place, we shall consider what reason we have 
to reject the doctrine of purgatory ; as we have already seen 
how weak the foundation is upon which it is built. The 
scripture speaks to us of two states after this life, of happi- 
ness, and misery; and as it divides all mankind into good 
and bad, into those that do good and those that do evil, into 
behevers and unbehevers, righteous and sinners ; so it pro- 
poses always the end of the one to be everlasting happiness 
and the end of the other to be everlasting punishment, with- 
out the least hint of any middle state after death. So that it 
is very plain there is nothing said in scripture of men too 
good to be damned, but not so good as to be immediately 
saved. Now, if there had been yet a great deal to be suffered 
after death, and that there were many very effectual ways to 
prevent and avoid, or at least to shorten those sufferings; 
and if the apostles knew this, and yet said not a word of it, 
neither in their first sermons nor in their Epistles ; here was a 
great treachery in the discharge of their function, and that to 
the souls of men, not to warn them of their danger, nor to 
direct them to the proper methods of avoiding it ; but, on the 
contrary, to speak and write to them, just as we can suppose 
impostors would have done, to terrify those who would not 
receive their gospel, with eternal damnation, but not to say a 
word to those who received it, of their danger, in case they 
lived not up to that exactness that their religion required, and 
yet upon the main adhered to it and followed it. This is a 
method that does not agree with common honesty, not to say 
inspiration. A fair way of proceeding, is to make men sen- 
sible of dangers of all sorts, and to shew them how to avoid 
them ; the apostles told their converts, that ' through much Acts xivii 
tribulation we must enter into the kingdom of heaven;' they ^• 
assured them, that ^ their present sufferings were not worthy ^g""^' 
to be compared to the glory that was to be revealed;' and that 2 Cor. iv. 
^ those light afflictions, which are for a moment, wrought for 
them a more exceeding and eternal weight of glory.' Here, if 
they knew any thing of purgatory, a powerful consideration 
was passed over in silence, that by these afflictions they 
should be delivered from those torments. 

5; This argument goes further than mere silence ; though that 
is very strong. The scriptures speak always as if the one did 
immediately foUow the other; and that the saints, or true 
Christians, pass from the miseries of this state to the glories 
of the next. So does our Saviour represent the matter in the 
parable of Lazarus and the rich glutton; whose souls were 
presently carried to their different abodes; the one to ^6^^^^^^^^! 
comforted, as the other was tormented. He promised also to 25. 
the repenting thief, ^ To-day thou shalt be with me in paradise.' Luke xxlii. 
St. Paul comforts himself, in the apprehension of his dissolu- 

u 



290 



AN EXPOSITION OF 



A RT tion that was approaching, with the prospect of the ^ crown of 
XXII. righteousness that should be given him^ after death ; and so 
2 Yim iv states these two as certain consequents one of another, ^ to 
8. be dissolved and to be with Christ, to be absent from the 

Phil. i.23. |3,Q(jy^ and present with the Lord:' and he makes it appear 
8^ ' that it was no peculiar privilege that he promised to himself, 
but that which all Christians had a right to expect ; for he 
V. 1, 2. says in general, this ^ we know that if our earthly house of 
this tabernacle be dissolved,, we have a building of God, a 
house not made with hands, eternal in the heavens/ In the 
Epistle to the Hebrews the patriarchs under the old dispen- 
Heb.xi.io. sation are represented as ^looking for that city whose 
builder and founder is God though in that state the mani- 
festations of another life were more imperfect than in this ; in 
which ^ life and immortaUty are brought to light ;' they being 
veiled and darkened in that state. And finally, St. John heard 
Rev. XIV. ^ voice commanding him to WTite, ^ Blessed are the dead w^ho 
die in the Lord (that is, being true Christians) from hence- 
forth (or immediately) : Yea, saith the Spirit, that they may 
rest from their labours : and their works do follow them.' From 
the solemnity with which these words are delivered, they carry 
in them an evidence sufficient to determine the whole matter. 
So that we must have very hard thoughts of the sincerity of 
the writers of the New Testament, and very much disparage 
their credit, not to say their inspiration, if we can imagine that 
there are scenes of suffering, and those very dismal ones, to 
be gone through, of which they gave the world no sort of no- 
tice ; but spoke in the same style that we do, who believe no 
such dismal interval between the death of good men and their 
I ^'P- final blessedness. The scriptures do indeed speak of a full 
ver. 8. reward and of difi*erent degrees of glory, ' as one star exceeds 
I Cor. XV. another.' They do also represent the day of judgment upon 
• the resurrection of the body, as that which gives the full and 
entire possession of blessedness ; so that from hence some 
have thought, upon very probable grounds, that the blessed, 
though admitted to happiness immediately upon their death, 
yet were not so completely happy as they shall be after the 
resurrection : and in this there arose a diversity of opinions, 
which is very natural to aU who will go and form systems out 
of some general hints. Some thought that the souls of good 
men were at rest, and in a good measure happy, but that they 
did not see God before the resurrection. Others thought that 
Christ was to come down and reign visibly upon earth a thou- 
sand years before the end of the world ; and that the saints 
were to rise and to reign with him, some sooner and some 
later. Some thought that the last conflagration was so to 
affect all, that every one was to pass through it, and that it 
was to give the last and highest purification to those bodies 
that were then to be glorified ; but that the better Christians 
that any had been, they should feel the less of the pain of that 



THE XXXIX ARTICLES. 291 



last fire. These opinions were very early entertained in the A R T. 
church : an itch of intruding too far into things which men did 
not thoroughly understand^ concerning angels^ began to dis- 
turb the churcli even in the days of the apostles : which made 
St. Paul charge the Colossians to beware of vain philosophy. Col. ii. 8, 
Plato thought there was a middle sort of men, who though 18. 
they had sinned, yet had repented of it, and were in a curable 
condition, and that they went down for some time into hell, 
to be purged and absolved by grievous torments. The Jews 
had also a conceit, that the souls of some men continued for 
a year, going up and down in a state of purgation. From 
these opinions somewhat of a curiosity in describing the 
degrees of the next state began pretty early to enter into the 
church. 

As for that opinion of the Platonists, and the fictions of 
Homer and Virgil, setting forth the complaints of souls de- 
parted, for their not being relieved by prayers and sacrifices, '^'^ ^" 
though these perhaps are the true sources of the doctrine of 
purgatorj^, and of redeeming souls out of it, yet we are not so 
much concerned in them, as in what is represented to us by 
the author of the second book of the Maccabees, concerning 
the sacrifice that was offered by Judas Maccabeus, for those, 
about whom, after they were killed, they found such things 
as shewed that they had defiled themselves with the idolatry 
of the heathens. All this is of less authority with us, who do 
not acknowledge that book to be canonical : according to 
what was set out in its proper place. And although we set a 
due value upon some of the apocryphal books, yet others are 
of a lower character. The first book of Maccabees is a very 
grave history, writ with much exactness and a true judgment ; 
but the second is the work of a mean writer: he was an 
abridger of a larger work ; and as he has the modesty to ask 
his readers pardon for his defects, so it is very plain to every 
one that reads him, that he needs often many grains of allow- 
ance. So that this book is one of the least valuable pieces of 
the Apocrypha ; and there are very probable reasons to ques- 
tion the truth of that relation, concerning those who were 
thus prayed for. But because that would occasion too long a 
digression, we are to make a difference between the story that 
he relates, and the author's own reflections upon it ; for as we 
ought not to make any great account of his reflections, these 
being only his private thoughts, who might probably have im- 
bibed some of the principles of the Greek philosophy, as some 
of the J ews had done, or he might have believed that notion 
which is now very generally received by the Jews, that every 
J ew shall have a share in the world to come, but that such as 
have hved ill must be purged before they arrive at it. It is 
of much more importance to consider what Judas Maccabeus 2 Maccab 
did; which even by that relation seems to be no more than xii. 40. 
this, that he finding some things consecrated to the idols of 

u2 



A R T. the Jamnites^ about the bodies of those who were killed, con^; 
eluded that to have been the cause of their death: and upon 
this he and all his men betook themselves to prayer, and be- 
sought God that the sin might be wholly put out of remem- 
brance : he exhorted his people to keep themselves, by that 
example, from the like sin ; and he made a collection of a sum 
of money, and sent it to Jerusalem to offer a sin-offering be- 
fore the Lord. So far the matter agrees well enough with the 
Jewish dispensation. It had appeared in the days of Joshua, 
Joshua vii. how mUch guilt the sin of Achan, though but one person, had 
brought upon the whole congregation ; and their law had upon 
another occasion prescribed a sin-offering for the whole con- 
gregation to expiate blood that was shed, when the murderer 
could not be discovered : that so the judgments of God might 
not come upon them, by reason of the cry of that blood. 
And by a parity of reason, Judas might have offered such an 
offering to free himself and his men from the guilt which the 
idolatry of a few might have brought upon greater numbers ; 
such a sacrifice as this might, according to the nature of that 
law, have been offered : but to offer a sin-offering for the dead, 
was a new thing mthout ground, or any intimation of any 
thing like it in their law. So there is no reason to doubt, but 
that, if the story is true, Judas offered this sin-offering for the 
living, and not for the dead. If they had been aliv€ then, by 
their law no sin-offering could have been made for them : for 
idolatry was to be punished by cutting off, and not to be ex-^ 
piated by sacrifice : what then could not have been done for 
them if alive, could much less be done for them after their 
death. So we have reason to conclude that Judas offered this 
sacrifice only for the living : and we are not much concerned 
in the opinion which so slight a writer, as the author of that 
book, had concerning it. But whatever might be his opinion, 
it was far from that of the Roman church. By this instance 
of the Maccabees, men who died in a state of mortal sin, and 
that of the highest nature, had sacrifices offered for them : 
whereas, according to the doctrine of the church of Rome, hell, 
and not purgatory, is to be the portion of all such : so this 
will prove too much, if any thing at all, that sacrifices are to 
be offered for the damned. The design of Judas^s sending to 
make an offering for them, as that writer states it, was, that 
their sins might be forgiven, and that they might have a happy 
resurrection. Here is nothing of redeeming them out of mi- 
sery, or of shortening or alleviating their torments : so that 
the author of that book seems to have been possessed with 
that opinion, received commonly among the Jews, that no Jew 
could finally perish ; as we find St. J erome expressing himself 
with the like partiality for all Christians. But whatever the 
author^s opinion was, as that book is of no authority, it is 
highly probable that Judas's design in that oblation was 
misunderstood by the historian ; and we are sure that even 



THE XXXIX ARTICLES. 



293 



his sense of it differs totally from, that of the church of AR T.^ 
Rome. -^^f^^'n 

A passage in the New Testament is brought as a full proof j (Jq,; jji; 
of the fire of purgatory. When St. Paul in his Epistle to the 10—15. 
Corinthians is reflecting on the divisions that were among 
them^ and on that diversity of teachers that formed men into 
different principles and parties^ he compares them to different 
builders. Some raised upon a rock an edifice like the temple 
at Jerusalem^ of gold and silver, and noble stones, called pre-: 
clous stones ; whereas others upon the same rock raised a mean 
hovel of wood, hay, and stubble ; of both he says, ^ every man^s 
work shall be made manifest. For the day shall reveal it ; 
because it shall be revealed by fire ; for the fire shall try every; 
man^s work of what sort it is.^ And he adds, ^ If any man^s 
work abide which he hath built thereupon, he shall re- 
ceive a reward; and if any man's work shall be burnt, 
he shall suffer loss; but he himself shall be saved, yet 
so as by fire.' From the first view of these words it 
will not be thought strange if some of the ancients, who 
were too apt to expound places of scripture according to their 
first appearance, might fancy, that at the last day all were 
to pass through a great fire ; and to suffer more or less in it : 
but it is visible that that opinion is far enough from the doc- 
trine of purgatory. These words relate to a fire that was soon 
to appear, and that was to try every man's work. It was to 
be revealed, and in it every man's work was to be made mani- 
fest. So this can have no relation to a secret purgatory fire.* 
The meaning of it can be no other, but that whereas some with 
the apostles were building up the church, not only upon the 
foundation of Jesus Christ, and the belief of his doctrine, but 
were teaching men doctrines and rules that were virtuous, 
good, and great ; others at the same time were daubing with a 
profane mixture, both of Judaism and Gentilism, joining these 
with some of the precepts of Christianity ; a day would soon 
appear, which probably is meant of the destruction of Jerusa- 
lem, and of the Jewish nation ; or it may be applied to the 
persecution that was soon to break out; in that day, those 
who had true notions, generous principles, and suitable prac- 
tices, would weather that storm: whereas others, that were en- 
tangled with weak and superstitious conceits, would then run 
a great risk, though their firm believing that Jesus was the 
Messias would preserve them : yet the weakness and folly of 

* ' But whether we understand these words of that day (of the destruction of Je- 
rusalem) or any other day of judgment, this is certain, that the apostle cannot be 
here supposed to speak of the Roman purgatory fire ; (1) because the fire the apos- 
tle speaks qf, as Origen hath noted, is not -rZ^ iiXixov aocl ulffSyiTov, aXXa, r^oTo^oyixov, 
fire properly, Imt metaphorically, so called, as appears from those words, he ihall 
escape as by fire. (2) Because this fire is to try every man's work, Paul and ApoLlos's, 
as well as theirs who built on the foundation hay and stubble ; and sure they will 
not say Paul and Apollos went to purgatory. (3) This fire shall try every man's 
work, of what sort it is : now purgatory fire doth not try every man's works, but 
punishes them for them.' Whitby. — [Ed.] 



294 



AN EXPOSITION OF 



ART. those teachers would appear, their opinions wirald involve 
them in such danger, that their escaping would be difficult; hke 
one that gets out of a house that is all on fire round about him. 
So that these words caimot possibly belong to purgatory ; but 
must be meant of some signal discrimination that was to be 
made, in some very dreadful appearances which would distin- 
guish between the true and the false apostles ; and that could 
be no other but either in the destruction of Jerusalem, or in 
the persecution that was to come on the church ; though the 
first is the more probable. 

It were easy to pursue this argument further, and to shew, 
that the doctrine of purgatory, as it is now in the Roman 
church, was not known in the church of God for the first six 
hundred years ; that then it began to be doubtfully received. 
But in an ignorant age, visions, legends, and bold stories pre- 
vailed much ; yet the Greek church never received it. Some 
of the fathers speak indeed of the last probatory fire ; but 
though they did not think the saints were in a state of con- 
summate blessedness, enjoying the vision of God, yet they 
thought they were in a state of ease and quiet, and, that in 
Aug. de heaven. St. Austin speaks in this whole matter very doubt- 
1 2i*c/^' 5 varies often from himself; he seems sometimes very 
18. ad 22. positive only for two states; at other times, as he asserts the 
Enchir. c. last probatory fire, so he seems to think that good souls might 
Ad DuU^* suffer some grief in that sequestered state before the last day, 
cid. upon the account of some of their past sins, and that by de- 
quaest. grecs they might arise up to their consummation. All these 
contests were proposed very doubtfully before Gregory the 
Great's days ; and even then some doubts seem to have been 
made : but the legends were so copiously played upon all those 
doubts, that this remnant of paganism got at last into the 
western church. It was no wonder, that the opinions for- 
merly mentioned, which began to appear in the second age, 
had produced in the third the practice of praying for the 
Cor^^Mi?^ dead ; of which we find such full evidence in Tertulhan and 
c.S.'de Ex- '^^* Cyprian's writings, that the matter of fact is not to be de- 
hor, c. 13. nied. This appears also in all the ancient liturgies : and 
E^^34 37 ^pip^^^^^s charges Aerius with this of rejecting all prayers 
Epiph.' * dead, asking, why were they prayed for? The opinions 

llaer. 75. that they fell into concerning the state of departed souls, in 
1. 3. n. 3. the interval between their death and the day of judgment, 
gave occasion enough for prayer ; they thought they were ca- 
pable of making a progress, and of having an early resurrec- 
tion. They also had this notion among them ; that it was the 
peculiar privilege of Jesus Christ to be above all our prayers ; 
but that no men, not excepting the apostles, , nor the blessed 
Virgin, were above the prayers of the church. They thought 
this was an act of church-communion, that we were to hold 
Eccl mer ^^^^ ^^^^ saints in heaven, to pray for them. Thus in the 
cap. v. ' Apostolical Constitutions, in the books of the Ecclesiastical 



THE XXXIX ARTICLES. 



295 



Hierarchy, and in the Liturgies that are ascribed to St, Basil ART. 
and St. Chrysostom, they offer unto God these prayers^ which XXII. 
they thought their reasonable service, for those who were at " 
rest in the faith, their forefathers, fathers, patriarchs, prophets, 
and apostles ; preachers, evangelists, martyrs, confessors^ re- 
ligious persons, and for every spirit perfected in the faith; 
especially for our most holy, immaculate, most blessed Lady, 
the mother of God, the ever Virgin Mary. Particular in- 
stances might also be given of this out of St. Cyprian, St. 
Ambrose, Nazianzen, and St. Austin; who in that famous and Aug.conf. 
much cited passage concerning his mother, Monica, as he ^' ^' ^' 
speaks nothing of any temporal pains that she suffered, so he 
plainly intimates his belief that God had done all that he de- 
sired. Thus it will appear to those who have examined all 
the passages which are brought out of the fathers, concerning 
their prayers for the dead, that they beheved they were then in 
«Jiiieaven, and atrest ; and by consequence, though these prayers 
•ifor the dead did very probably give the chief rise to the doc- 

- trine of purgatory ; yet, as they then made them, they were 
utterly inconsistent vdth that opinion. TertuUian, who is the De Cor. 
first that is cited for them, says, we make oblations for the 

If ^ead, and we do it for that second nativity of theirs (natalitia) 

9 once a year. The signification of the word natalitia, as ^^^7 g ^,^ 31 

- used it, was the saint^s day of death, in which they reckoned he , 
was born again to heaven : so, though they judged them thefe^ 
yet they offered up prayers for them : and when Epiphanius 
brings in Aerius asking, why those prayers were made for the 
dead ? though it had been very natural, and indeed unavoid- 
able, if he had beheved purgatory, to have answered, that it 
was to deliver them from thence : yet he makes no such an- 
swer, but only asserts, that it had been the practice of the 
church so to do. The Greek church retains that custom, 

' though she has never admitted of purgatory. Here then an 
objection may be made to our constitution, that in this of 
praying for the dead we have departed from the practice of 
the ancients : we do not deny it, both the church of Rome - 
and we in another practice, of equal antiquity, of giving the 
eucharist to infants, have made changes, and let that custom 
fall. The curiosities in the second century seem to have given * ; i t 
rise to those prayers in the third; and they gave the rise to 
many other disorders in the following centuries. Since, there- 
fore, God has commanded us, while we are on earth, to pray 
for one another, and has made that a main act of our charity 
and church-communion, but has nowhere directed us to pray 
for those that have finished their course ; and since the only 
pretence that is brought from scripture, of St. Pau?s praying, 
that ^ Onesiphorus might find mercy in the day of the Lord,^ 2 Tim. i. 
cannot be wrought up into an argument, for it cannot be 18. 
proved that he was then dead ; and since the fathers reckon 
this of praying for the dead only as one of their customs, for 



WHXPOSITION OF 



A R T. whicli they vouch no other warrant but practice ; since^ alsoy 
XXH. this has been grossly abused, and has been applied to sup- 
■ port a doctrine totally different from theirs ; we think that we ; 
have as good a plea for not following them in this, as we havelJ 
for not giving infants the sacrament, and therefore we thinks 
it no imputation on our church, that we do not in this follow ^ 
a groundless and a much abused precedent, though set us iii i 
ages which we highly reverence. 

The greatest corruption of this whole matter comes in the 
last place to be considered ; which is, the methods proposed 
for redeeming souls out of purgatory. If this doctrine hadi 
rested in a speculation, we must still have considered it as de- « 
rogatory to the death of Christ, and the truth of the gospel J | 
but it raises our zeal a little more, when we consider the use 
that was made of it; and that fears and terrors being by this it 
means infused into men^s minds, new methods were proposed^! 
to free them from these. The chief of which was the saying 
of masses for departed souls. It was pretended, that this being 
the highest act of the communion of Christians, and the most 
sublime piece of worship, therefore God was so well pleased 
with the frequent repetition of it, with the prayers that accom* 
panied it, and with those that made provisions for men who o 
should be constantly employed in it, that this was a most ac^w 
ceptable sacrifice to God. Upon this followed all those vast 
endowments for saying masses for departed souls ; though in 
the institution of that sacrarhent, and in all that is spoken of 
it in the scripture, there is not an hint given of this. Sacra- 
ments are positive precepts, which are to be measured only by 
the institution, in which there is not room left for us to carry 
them further. We are ^ to take, eat and drink, and thereby 
shew forth theLord^s death till his second coming :^ all which 
has no relation to the applying this to others who are gone off 
the stage; therefore if we can have any just notions either of 
superstition, or of will- worship, they are applicable here. Men 
will fancy that there is a virtue in an action, which we are 
sure it has not of itself, and we cannot find that God has put 
in it; and yet they, without any authority from God, do set 
up a new piece of worship, and imagine that God will be 
pleased with them in every thing they do or ask, only because 
they are perverting this piece of worship, clearly contrary to 
the institution, to be a solitary mass. In the primitive church, 
where all the service of the whole assembly ended in a com- 
munion, there was a roll read, in which the names of the more 
eminent saints of the catholic church, and of the holy bishops, 
martyrs, or confessors of every particular church, were regis- 
tered. This was an honourable remembrance that was kept 
up of such as had died in the Lord. When the soundness of 
any person^s faith was brought in suspicion, his name was not 
read till that point was cleared, and then either his name con- 
tinued to be read, or it was quite dashed out. This was 



THE XXXIX ARTICLES. 297 



thought an honour due to the memory of those who had died ^^ 'J'- 

in the faith : and in St. Cyprian^s time, in the infancy of this 

practice, we see he counted the leaving a man^s name out as a Cypr. 
thing that only left a blot upon him, but not as a thing of any ^j'^'J^j^^* 
consequence to his soul ; for when a priest had died, who had 
by his last wiU named another priest the tutor (or guardian) of Oxon.* 
his children, this seemed to him a thing of such ill example, - 
to put those secular cares upon the minds of the clergy^ that 
he appointed that his name should be no more read in the 
daily sacrifice : which plainly shews, unless we will tax St. 
Cyprian with a very unreasonable cruelty, that he considered 
that only as a small censure laid on his memory, but not as a 
prejudice to his soul. This gives us a very plain view of the 
sense that he had of this matter. After this roll was read, 
then the general prayer followed, as was formerly acknow- 
ledged, for all their souls ; and so they went on in the com- 
munion service. This has no relation to a mass said by a 
single priest to deliver a soul out of purgatory. 

Here, without going far in tragical expressions, we cannot 
hold saying what our Saviour said upon another occasion, Mark xi. 
^My house is a house of prayer, but ye have made it a den i^- 
of thieves.V A trade was set up on this foundation. The 
world was made to believe, that by virtue of so many masses, - 
which were to be purchased by great endowments, souls were 
redeemed out of purgatory ; and scenes of visions and appa- 
ritions, sometimes of the tormented, and sometimes of the 
delivered souls, were published in all places: which had so 
wonderful an effect, that in two or three centuries endow- 
ments increased to so vast a degree, that if the scandals of the 
clergy on the one hand, and the statutes of mortmain on the 
other, had not restrained the profuseness that the world was 
wrought up to upon this account, it is not easy to imagine how 
far this might have gone ; perhaps to an entire subjecting of 
the temporalty to the spiritualty. The practices by which 
this was managed, and the effects that followed on it, we can 
call by no other name than downright impostures; worse than 
the making or vending false coin : when the world was drawn 
in by such arts to plain bargains, to redeem their own souls, 
and the souls of their ancestors and posterity, so many masses 
were to be said, and forfeitures were to follow upon their not 
being said : thus the masses were really the price of the lands. 
An endowment to a religious use, though mixed with error 
or superstition in the rules of it, ought to be held sacred, 
according to the decision given concerning the censers of 
those that were in the rebellion of Corah: so that we do not Numb.xvi. 
excuse the violation of such from sacrilege; yet we cannot ' 
think so of endowments, where the only consideration was a 
false opinion first of purgatory, and then of redemption out 
of it by masses ; this being expressed in the very deeds 
themselves. By the same reasons, by which private persons 



298 



AN EXPOSITION OF 



'Art. are obliged to restore what they have drawn from others by 
base practices^ by false deeds^ or counterfeit coin; bodies are 
also bound to restore what they have got into their hands by 
such fraudulent practices ; so that the states and princes of 
Christendom were at full liberty upon the discovery of these 
impostures^ to void all the endowments that had followed 
upon them ; and either to apply them to better uses^ or to 
restore them to the famihes from which they had been drawn^ 
if that had been practicable^ or to convert them to any other 
use. This was a crying abuse^ which those who have ob- 
served the progress that this matter made from the eighth 
century to the twelfth^ cannot reflect on without both amaze- 
ment and indignation. We are sensible enough that there are 
many political reasons and arguments for keeping up the doc- 
trine of purgatory. But we have not so learned Christ, We 
ought not to lie even for God, much less for ourselves, or for 
any other pretended ends of keeping the world in awe and 
order : therefore all the advantages that are said to arise out 
of this, and all the mischief that may be thought to follow on 
the rejecting of it, ought not to make us presume to carry on 
the ends of religion by unlawful methods. This were to call 
in the assistance of the Devil to do the work of God ; if the 
just apprehensions of the wrath of God, and the guilt of sin, 
together with the fear of everlasting burnings, will not reform 
the world, nor restrain sinners, v/e must leave this matter to 
the wise and unsearchable judgments of God. 

The next particular in this Article is the condemning the 
Romish doctrine concerning pardons: that is founded on the 
distinction between the temporal and eternal punishment of 
sin ; and the pardon is of the temporal punishment, which is 
believed to be done by a power lodged singly in the pope, de- 
rived from those words, ^Feed my sheep,' and ^To thee will I 
give the keys of the kingdom of heaven.^ This may be by 
him derived, as they teach, not only to bishops and priests, 
but to the inferior orders, to be dispensed by them ; and it 
excuses from penance, unless he who purchases it thinks fit 
to use his penance in a medicinal way, as a preservative 
against sin. So the virtue of indulgences* is the applying 

* The system of indulgences had its foundation in the early ages of Christianity, 
when many of those who had apostatized under the persecution of Decius were 
anxious to be re-admitted to the communion of the church, ' without submitting 
to that painful course of penitential discipline, which the ecclesiastical laws indis- 
pensably required. The bishops were divided upon this matter : some were for 
shewing the desired indulgence, while others opposed it with all their might. In 
Egypt and Africa, many, in order to obtain more speedily the pardon of their 
apostacy, interested the martyrs in their behalf, and received from them letters of 
reconciliation and peace, i. e. a formal act, by which they (the martyrs) declared 
in their last moments, that they looked upon them as worthy of their communion, 
and desired, of consequence, that they should be restored to their place among the 
brethren. ' — Mosheim. 

The subsequent scandalous abuse of this practice, and the iniquitous traffic in 
indulgences which called forth the zeal of Martin Luther, are too well known to 
require any further remarks. — [Ed.] 



THE XXXIX ARTICLES. 



299 



the treasure of the church upon such terms as popes shall 
think fit to prescribe;, in order to the redeeming souls from 
purgatory, and from all other temporal punishments, and that 
for such a number of years as shall be specified in the bulls; 
some of which have gone to thousands of years ; one I have 
seen to ten hundred thousand : and as these indulgences are 
sometimes granted by special tickets, like tallies struck on 
that treasure; so sometimes they are affixed to particular 
churches and altars, to particular times, or days, chiefly to the 
year of jubilee ; they are also affixed to such things as may 
be carried about, to Agnus Dei's, to medals, to rosaries and 
scapularies ; they are also affixed to some prayers, the devout 
sa}ang of them being a mean to procure great indulgences. 
The granting these is left to the pope^s discretion, who ought 
to distribute them as he thinks may tend most to the honour 
of God, and the good of the church ; and he ought not to be 
too profuse, much less to be too scanty, in dispensing them. 

This has been the received doctrine and practice of the 
church of Rome since the twelfth century ; and the council 
of Trent* in a hurry, in its last session, did in very general 
words approve of the practice of the church in this matter, 
and decreed that indulgences should be continued ; only they 
restrained some abuses, in particular that of selling them; 
yet even those restraints were w^holly referred to the popes 
themselves : so that this crying abuse, the scandal of which 
had occasioned the first beginnings and progress of the Refor- 
mation, was upon the matter established ; and the correcting 
the excesses in it was trusted to those who had been the au- 
thors of them, and the chief gainers by them. This point of 
their doctrine is more fully opened than might perhaps seem 
necessary, if it were not that a great part of the confutation of 
some doctrines is the exposing of them. For though in ages 
and places of ignorance these things have been, and still are, 

* ' Decretum de Indulgentiis. 

' Cum potestas conferendi indulgentias a Christo ecclesiae concessa sit ; atque 
hujusraodi potestate, divinitus sibi tradita, antiquissimis etiam temporibus ilia usa 
fuerit : sacrosancta synodus indulgeutiarura usum, Christiano populo maxime salu- 
tarem, et sacrorura conciliorum auctoritate probatum, in ecclesia retinendum esse 
docet et praecipit ; eosque anathemate damnat, qui aut inutiles esse assenint, vel 
eas concedendi in ecclesia potestatem esse negant : in bis tamen concedendis mo- 
derationem, juxta veterem et probatam in ecclesia consuetudinem, adhiberi cupit ; 
ne nimia facilitate ecclesiastica disciplina enervetur. Abusus vero, qui in his ir- 
repserunt, et quorum occasione insigne hoc indulgentiarum nomen ab heereticis 
blasphematur, emendates et correctos cupiens, prsesenti decreto generaliter statuit 
pravos quaestus omnes pro his consequendis, unde plurima in Christiano populo 
abusuum causa fluxit, omnino abolendos esse. Cseteros vero, qui ex superstitione, 
ignorantia, irreverentia, aut aliunde quomodocumque provenerunt, cum ob multi- 
plices locorum et provinciarum, apud quas hi committuntur, corruptelas commode 
nequeant specialiter prohiberi ; mandat omnibus episcopis, ut diligenter quisque 
hujusmodi abusus ecclesiae suae colligat, eosque in prima synodo provinciali referat : 
ut aliorum quoque episcoporum sententia cogniti, statim ad summum romanum 
pontificem deferantur : cujus auctoritate et prudentia, quod universali ecclesiae ex- 
pediet, statuatur ; ut ita sanctarum indulgentiarum munus, pie, sancte, et incor- 
rupte omnibus fidelibus dispensitur.' Sessio xxv [Ed.] 



^66 ^M'iXP0slfii6i<f W' 

A R T. practised with great assurance^ and to very extravagant' 

cesses ; yet in countries and ages of more lights when th^f 
come to be questioned^ they are disowned with an assurance 
equal to that with which they are practised elsewherei 
Among us some will perhaps say, that these are only exi 
emptions from penance; which cannot be denied to be within 
the power of the church ; and they argue, that though it is 
very fit to make severe laws, yet the execution of these must 
be softened in practice. This is all that they pretend to 
justify, and they give up any further indulgences as an abuse 
of corrupt times. Whereas at the same time a very different' 
doctrine is taught among them, where there is no danger, but 
much profit, in owning it. All this is only a pretence ; for the 
episcopal power, in the inflicting, abating, or commuting of 
penance, is stated among them as a thing wholly different 
from the power of indulgences. They are derived from dif- 
ferent originals ; and designed for ends totally different from^ 
one another. The one is for the outward discipline of the 
church, and the other is for the inward quiet of consciences, 
and in order to their future state. The one is in every 
bishop, and the other is asserted to be peculiar to the pope. 
Nor will they escape by laying this matter upon the ignorance 
and abuses of former times. It was pubhshed in bulls, and 
received by the whole church : so that if either the pope, or 
the diffusive body of the church are infallible, there must be 
such a power in the pope ; and the decree of the council of 
Trent confirming and approving the practice of the church in 
that point, must bind them all. For if this doctrine is false^,^^ 
then their infallibility must go with it ; for in every hypothci-- 
sis in which infallibility is said to be lodged, whether in the' 
pope or in councils, this doctrine has that seal to it. 

As for the doctrine itself, all that has been already said^ 
against the distinction of temporal and eternal punishment, 
and against purgatory, overthrows it; since the one is the 
foundation on which it is built, and the other is that which it' 
pretends to secure men from : and therefore this falls with' 
those. AU that was said upon the head of the sufficiency of 
the scriptures comes also in here ; for if the scriptures ought^ 
to be our rule in any thing, it must be chiefly in those mat- 
ters which relate to the pardon of sin, to the quiet of our 
consciences, and to a future state. Therefore a doctrine and 
practice that have not so much as colours from scripture 
in a matter of such consequence, ought to be rejected by us 
upon this single account. If from the scripture we go to the 
practice and tradition of the church, we are sure that this was 
not thought on for above ten centuries ; all the indulgences 
that were then known being only the abatements of the 
severity of the penitentiary canons ; but in the ages in which 
aspiring and insolent popes imposed on ignorant and super- 
stitious multitudes, a jumble was made of indulgences for- 



THE XXXIX ARTICLES. 



301 



merly granted, of purgatory, and of the papal authority, that A R T. 
was then very implicitly submitted to ; and so out of all that 
mixture this arose ; which was as ill managed as it was ill 
grounded. The natural tendency of it is not only to relax all 
public disciphne, but also all secret penance, when shorter 
methods to peace and pardon may be more easily purchased. 
The vast apphcation to the executing the many trifling per- 
formances to which indulgences are granted, has brought in 
among them such a prostitution of holy things, that either it 
must be said that those are public cheats, and that they were 
so from the beginning, or that their virtue is now exhausted,; 
though the bulls that grant them are perpetual; or else a man 
may on very easy terms preserve himself and redeem his 
friends out of purgatory. If the saying a prayer before a pri- 
vileged altar, or the visiting some churches in the time of 
jubilee, with those slight devotions that are then enjoined, 
have such efficacy in them, it is scarce possible for any man to 
be in danger of purgatory. 

The third head rejected in this Article is the worshipping of 
images. Here those of the church of Rome complain much 
of the charge of idolatry, that our church has laid upon them, 
so fully and so severely in the Homilies. Some among our- 
selves have also thought that we must either renounce tha^^ 
charge, or that we must deny the possibility of salvation in" 
that church, and in consequence to that conclude, that neither 
the baptism nor the orders of that church are valid : for since 
idolaters are excluded from the kingdom of heaven, they 
argue, that if there can be no salvation where idolatry is com- 
mitted by the whole body of a church, then that can be no 
church, and in it there is no salvation. But here we are to 
consider, before we enter upon the specialities of this matter, 
that idolatry is a general word, which comprehends many se- 
veral sorts and ranks of sins under it. As lying is capable of 
many degrees, from an officious lie to the swearing falsely 
against the life of an innocent man in judgment : the one is 
the lowest, and the other is the highest act of that kind ; but 
all are lying : and yet it would appear an unreasonable thing 
to urge every thing that is said of any act in general, and 
which belongs to the highest acts of it, as if all the inferior 
degrees did necessarily involve the guilt of the highest. There 
is another distinction to be made between actions, as they 
signify either of themselves, or by the public constructions 
that are put on them, by those who authorize them, and those 
same actions as they may be privately intended by particular 
persons. We, in our weighing of things, are only to consider 
what actions signify of their own nature, or by public autho- 
rity, and according to that we must form our judgments about 
them, and in particular in the point of idolatry : but as for the 
secret thoughts or intentions of men, we must leave these to 
the 'udgment of God, who only knows them, and who being 



302 



AN EXPOSITION OF 



R T. infinitely gracious, slow to anger, and ready to forgive, will, 
we do not doubt, make all the abatements in the weighing 
men^s actions that there is reason for. But we ought not to 
enter into that matter ; we ought neither to aggravate nor to 
mollify things too much : we are to judge of things as they 
are in themselves, and to leave the case of men^s intentions 

^ and secret notions to that God who is to judge them. As for 
the business of images, we know that the heathens had them 
of several sorts. Some they believed were real resemblances 
of those deities that they worshipped: those divinities had 
been men, and the statues made for them resembled them. 
Other images they believed had a divine virtue affixed to them, 
perhaps from the stars, which were believed to be gods ; and 
it was thought that the influences of their aspects and posi- 
tions were by secret charms called down, and fastened to some 
figures. Other images were considered as emblems and re- 
presentations of their deities : so that they only gave them 
occasion to represent them to their thoughts. These images, 
thus of different sorts, were all worshipped ; some more, some 
less : they kneeled before them ; they prayed to them, and 
made many oblations to them ; they set lights before them, 
and burnt incense to them ; they set them in their temples, 
market-places, and highways ; and they had them in their 
houses : they set them off with much pomp, and had many 
processions to their honour. But in all this, though it is like 
the vulgar among them might have gross thoughts of those 
images, yet the philosophers, not only after the Christian re- 
ligion had obliged them to consider well of that matter, and 
to express themselves cautiously about it; but even while 
they were in the peaceable possession of the world, did believe 
that the deity was not in the image, but was only represented 
by it ; that the deity was worshipped in the image, so that the 
honour done the image did belong to the deity itself. Here 
then were two false opinions : the one was concerning those 
deities themselves ; the other was concerning this way of wor- 
shipping them; and both were blamed; not only the wor- 
shipping a false god, but the worshipping that god by an 
image. If idolatry had only consisted in the acknowledging 
a false god, and if the worshipping the true God in an image 
had not been idolatry, then all the fault of the heathenish 
idolaters should have consisted in this, that they worshipped 
a false god ; but their worshipping images should not of itself 
have been an additional fault. But in opposition to this, what 
can we think of those full and copious words, in which God 
did not only forbid the having of false gods, but the making of 
XX. 4, ^ a graven image, or the likeness of any thing in heaven, in 
earth, or under the earth ?^ The ^ bowing down to it, and the 
worshipping it,^ are also forbid. Where, besides the copious- 
ness of these words, we are to consider, that Moses, in the 
rehearsal of that law in Deuteronomy, does over and over 



THE XXXIX ARTICLES. 



303 



again add and insist on this, that ^ they saw no manner of si- ART- 
militude/ when God spoke to them, ^lest they should corrupt XXIIy 
themselves, and make to them a graven image an enumera- Deutriv7 
tion is made of many different likenesses ; and after that 13, 15, 17, 
comes another species of idolatry, ^ the worshipping the host ^-^^ 
of heaven and therefore Moses charges them in that chapter 30^^ * 
again and again ^to take heed, to take good heed to themselves, Levit.xxvi. 
lest they should forget the covenant of the Lord their God, j^^^^ ^. 
and make them a graven image and he lays the same charge 22. * 
a third time upon them in the same chapter. A special law 
is also given against the most innocent of all the images that 
could be made : they were required not only not to have idols,) 
nor graven images, but ^not to rear up a standing image or 
pillar ; nor to set up any image of stone, or any carved stone '/ 
such were the Baitulia ; the least tempting or ensnaring of all 
idols : '^they were not to bow down before it ;^ and the reason 
given is, ' For I am the Lord your God.^ The importance of 
those laws will appear clearer, if they are compared with the 
practice of those times, and particularly in those symbolical 
images, which were sacred emblems and hieroglyphics, that;: 
were not meant to be a true representation of the Divine 
Being, but were a combination of many symbols, intended to 
represent at once to the thoughts of the worshipper many of 
the perfections of God : these were most particularly practised 
in Egypt, and to them the copiousness of the Second Com- 
mandment seems to have a particular respect, such having 
been the images which they had lately seen, and which seem 
the most excusable of all others : when, I say, all this is laid 
together, with the commandment itself, and with those other 
laws that accompany and explain it, nothing seems more evi- 
dent, than that God intended to forbid all outward represen-- 
tations, that, should be set up as the objects of worship. It 
is also very plain, that the prophets expostulated with the 
people of Israel for their carved and molten images, as well as 
for their false gods : and among the reasons given against 
images, one is often repeated, ' To whom will ye liken me V isaiah xl. 
which seems to import, that by these images they represented 18—27. 
the living God. And Isaiah often, as also both Jeremiah and Jg^*^""^^* 
Habakkuk, when they set forth the folly of making an image, i_'i7* 
of praying to it, and trusting in it, bring in the greatness and Hab.ii.i8, 
glory of the living God, in opposition to these images. Now 
though it is possible enough to apprehend, how that the Jews 
might make images in imitation of the heathen, to represent 
that God whom they served ; yet it is no way credible that 
they could have fallen into such a degree of stupidity, as to 
fancy that a piece of wood, which they had carved into such 
a figure, was a real deity. They might think it a god by re- 
presentation, as the heathens thought their idols were ; but 
more than this cannot be easily apprehended. So that it is 
most reasonable to think, that they knew the God they had thus 



304 



AN EXPOSITION OF 



A i^'l'- made^ and prayed to^ was only a piece of wood; but they 
niight well fall into that corruption of many of the heathen^ 
of thinking that they honoured God by serving him in such an 
image. If the sin of the Jews was only their having other 
gods ; and if the worshipping an image was only evil, because 
a false deity was honoured by it, why is image-worship con- 
demned, with reasons that will hold full as strong against the 
images of the true God, as of false gods, if it had not been in- 
tended to condemn simply all image-worship ? Certainly, if 
the prophets had intended to have done it, they could not 
have expressed themselves more clearly and more fully than 
they did. 

To this it is to be added, that it seems very clear from the 
history of the golden calf, that the Israelites did not intend, 

Ex^ x^xxii. setting it up, to cast off the true Jehovah, that ^had 
* ' ■ brought them out of Egypt.^ They plainly said the contrary, 
and appointed a feast to Jehovah. It is probable they thought 
Moses was either burnt or starved on Mount Sinai, so they 
desired some visible representation of the Deity to go before 
them; they intended stiU to serve him ; but since they thought 
they had lost their prophet and guide, they hoped that this 
should have been perhaps as a teraphim to them ; yet for all 

^^^j^^jj*^* this, the calf is called an idol: and they are said ^to have 

19 20. ' changed their glory into the similitude of an ox that eateth 
grass.' So that here an emblem of the Deity is called an idol. 
They could take the ca//" for no other, but as a visible sign or 

1 Kin^s symbol in which they intended to worship their God or Elo- 
him, and the Lord or Jehovah. Such very probably were 
also the calves of Dan and Bethel, set up by Jeroboam, who 
seemed to have no design to change the object of their wor£^ 
ship, or the nature of their religion; but only to divert them ' 
from going up to Jerusalem, and to furnish them with conve^ 
niences to worship the living God nearer home. His design 
was only to establish the kingdom to himself ; and in order 
to that, we must think, that he would venture on no more 
than was necessary for his purpose. Besides, we do clearly 

1 Kings see an opposition made between the calves set up by Jero- 

2^Kin^s X ^^^"^^ worship of Baal brought from Tyrus by Ahab. 

28, 29! Those who hated that idolatry, such as Jehu and his family, 
yet continued in the sin of Jeroboam; and they are repre- 
sented as ' zealous for Jehovah,^ though they worshipped the 

Hos. viii. 4, calves of Dan and Bethel. These are called idols by Hosea. 

^- From all which it seems to be very evident that the ten tribes 

still feared and worshipped the true Jehovah. This appears 
yet more clear from the sequel of their history, when they 
were carried away by the kings of Assyria ; and new inhabit- 
ants were sent to people the country, who brought their idols 
along with them, and did not acknowledge ^ J ehovah the true 
God;' but upon their being plagued with lions, to prevent 
this, the king of Assyria sent one of the priests, that had been 



THE XXXIX ARTICLES. 



3Q5 



carried out of the country, who taught them how they should A JR T, 
^fear the Lord:' out of which that mixture arose, that they 
' feared the Lord, and served their own images/ This proves, 2 Kinas~~ 
beyond aU contradiction, that the ten tribes did still worship xvii. 28, 
Jehovah in those calves that they had at Dan and Bethel : 
and thus it appears very clear, that, through the whole Old 
Testament the use of all images in worship was expressly 
forbid ; and that the worshipping them, even when the true 
God was worshipped by them, was called idolatry. The 
words in which this matter is expressed are copious and full, 
and the reasons given for the precept are taken from the na- 
ture of God, who could be likened to nothing, and who had 
shewed no similitude of himself when he appeared to their 
fathers, and delivered their law to them. 

The new dispensation does in all respects carry the ideas of ;?b:<x .?a 
God and of true religion mucli higher, and raises them much 
above those compliances that were in the old, to men^s senses, 
and to sensitive natures ; and it would seem to contradict the 
whole design of it, if we could imagine that sucb things wera 
allowed in it, which were so expressly forbid in the old^ 
Upon this occasion it is remarkable, that the two fullest pas- 
sages in the New Testament concerning images, are written 
upon the occasion of the most refined idolatry that was then 
in the world, which was at Athens. When St. Paul was 
there, his spirit was moved within him, when he saw that city 
*^full of idols:' he upon that charges them for thinking that Acts xvii. 
the ^ Godhead was like unto gold or silver, or stone graven 24— 
by art or man's device :' he argues from the majesty of God, ' -^^ 
who made the world and all things therein, and was the Lord^ 
of heaven and earth, and therefore was not to be ^shipped by^ 
men's hands (that is, images made by them), who needed, 
nothing, since he gives us life, breath (or the continuance of? 
life), and all things.' He therefore condemns that way of 
worship as an effect of ignorance, and tells them, ^ of a day in 
which God will judge the world.' It is certain that the Athe- 
nians at that time did not think their images were the proper j 
resemblances of the Divinity. TuUy, who knew their theo- Cic.deNat. 
logy well, gives us a very different account of the notion ^^^^t ^^^"^2!? ' ^ 
they had of their images. Some images were of no figure ati;^^''^"';gg' gj 
all, but were only stones and pillars that had no particular 
vshape; others were hieroglyphics made up of many several : 
emblems, of which some signified one perfection of the Deity, ; .; : 

and some another ; and others were indeed the figures of meni 
and women; but even in these the wiser among them said, 5 
they worshipped one Eternal Mind, and under him some - 
inferior beings, demons, and men; who they believed were? 
subordinate to God, and governed this world. So it could • 
not be said of such worshippers, that they thought that thc :; 
Godhead was like unto their images ; since the best writers j 
among them tell us plainly that they thought no such thing. ; 

X 



306 



r AN EXPOSITION OFF 



ART, St. Paul therefore only argues in this against image- worship 
tXXIl- itself, which does naturally lead men to these low thoughts 
of God ; and which is a very unreasonable thing in all those 
who do not think so of him. It is contrary to the nature and 
perfections of God : few men can think God is like to those 
images, therefore that is a very good argument against all 
worshipping of them. And we may upon very sure grounds 
say that the Athenians had such elevated notions both of 
God and of their images, that whatsoever was a good argu- 
ment against image- worship among them, will hold goo^ 
against all image-worship whatsoever. 

But as St. Paul stayed long enough at Athens to undelrr 
stand their opinions well, and that no doubt he learned their 
doctrine very particularly from his convert Dionysius, so at 
his coming to Corinth from thence, when he had learned from 
Aquila and Priscilla the state of the church in Rome, and no 
doubt had learned among other things that the Romans ad- 
mired the Greeks, and made them their patterns ; he in th^ 
beginning of his Epistle to them, having still deep impres- 
sions upon his spirit of what he had seen and known at 
Athens, arraigns the whole Greek philosophy; and especially 
Rom. i. 20 those among them ^ who professed themselves wise, but bcr 
came fools ; who though they knew God, yet glorified him 
not as God, nor were thankful; but became vain in their 
imaginations, so that their foohsh heart was darkened.^ They 
had high speculations of the unity and simplicity of the 
Divine Essence; but they set themselves to find such excuses 
for the idolatry of the vulgar, that they not only continued to 
comply with them in the grossest of all their practices, but 
they studied more laboured defences for them, than the ruder 
multitudes could ever have fallen upon. They knew the true 
God; for God had shewed to them ^that which might 
known of him: but they held the truth in unrighteousness, 
and changed the glory of the incorruptible God into an image 
made like to corruptible man, and to birds and four-foote4 
beasts, and to creeping things which seems to be a descripr 
tion of hieroglyphic figures, the most excusable of all those 
images by which they represented the Deity. This St. Paul 
makes to be the original of aU the corruption and immorality 
that was spread over the Gentile world, which came in, partly 
as the natural consequence of idolatry, of its debasing the ideas 
of God, and wounding true rehgion and virtue in its source 
and first seeds, and partly as an effect of the just judgments 
of God upon those who thus dishonoured him, that was to a 
very monstrous degree spread over both Greece and Rome. 
Of these St. Paul gives us some very enormous instances, 
with a catalogue of the vices that sprang from those vitiated 
principles. These two passages, the one of St. Paulas preach- 
ing, and the other of his writing, being both applied to those 
who had the finest speculations among the heathen, do evi- 



THE XXXIX ARTICLES. 



dently dembnstrate how contrary the Christian doctrine is to A RT. 
the worshipping of images of all sorts, how speciously soever 
that may be disguised. 

If these things wanted an explanation, we find it given us 
very fully in all the writings of the fathers during their dis- 
^putes with the heathens. They do not only charge them 
with the false notions that they had of God, the many deities 
they worshipped, the absurd legends that they had concern- 
ing them ; but in particular they dwell long upon this of the 
worshipping God in or by an image, with arguments taken 
both from the pure and spiritual nature of God, and from the 
plain revelation he made of his will in this matter. Upon 
this argument many long citations might be gathered from 
Justin Martyr, from Clemens* of Alexandria, Origen, Tertul- 
lian, Cyprian, Arnobius, Minutius Felix, Lactantius, Eusebius, 
Ambrose, and St. Austin. Their reasonings are so clear and 
so full, that nothing can be more evident than that they con- 
demned all the use of images in the worship of God : and yet 
both Celsus, Porphyry, Maximus Tyrius, and Julian, told 
them very plainly, that they did not believe that the God- 
head was like their images, or was shut up within them; they 
only used them as helps to their imagination and apprehen- '^g^ 
sion, that from thence they might form suitable thoughts of 
the Deity. This did not satisfy the fathers, who insisted on 
it to the last, that all such images as were made the objects 
of Avorship were idols ; so that if in any one thing we have a 
very full account of the sense of the whole church for the first 
four centuries, it is in this matter. They do not speak of it 
now and then only by the way, as in a digression; in which 
the heat of argument, or of rhetoric, may be apt to carry men 
too far: they set themselves to treat of this argument very 
nicely; and they were engaged in it with philosophers, who 
were as good at subtleties and distinctions as other men. 
This was one of the main parts of the controversy : so, if 
in any head whatsoever, they writ exactly upon those sub- 
jects. They attacked the established religion of the Roman 
empire ; and this was not to be done with clamour, nor could 
they offer at it in a plain contradiction to such principles as 
are consistent with the Christian religion, if the doctrine of 
the Roman church is true. Here then we have not only the 
scripture but tradition fully of our side. 

Some pretended Christians, it is true, did very early wor- 
ship images ; but those were the Gnostics, held in detestation 
by all the orthodox. Irenseus, Epiphanius, and St. Austin Iren. ! i. 
tell us, that they worshipped the images of Christ, together g^^^f^ 

* Just. Mart. Apol. 1. i. c. 5. Clem. Alex. Strom. 1. i. c. 15. Protr. Orig. cont. Haeres, 27. 
Cels. 1. i. sect. 2, 3, 5, 7. Tertull. Apol. c. 12. Cypr. de Idol. Vanitate. Arnob. August, de 
lib. V. Minut. Felix. Oct. c. 18. Euseb. Praep. Evang. 1. iii. Lactan. 1. ii. c. 2. Haeres. 
Ambros.ad. Valent. Imperat. relat. Sym. respond. Epist. 31. August, de Civitate C3P*7. 
Dei, 1. vii. c. 5. 

Orig. con. Cels. 1. vii. c. 44. Euseb. Prsep. Ev.l. iii. c. 4. Max. Tyr.diss. 38. 
Jul. Frag. Ep, Euseb. Prsep. Evang. 1. iv. c. 1. 

x2 



308 



AN EXPOSITION OF 



ART. with Pythagoras^ Plato^ and Aristotle : nor are they only 
blamed for worshipping the images of Christy together with 
these of the philosophers ; but they are particularly blamed 
for having several sorts of images, and worshipping these 
as the heathens did; and that among these there was an 
image of Christ, which they pretended to have had from 
Pilate. Besides these corrupters of Christianity, there were 
no others among the Christians of the first ages that wor- 
shipped images. This was so well known to the heathens, 
that they bring this, among other things, as a reproach 
against the Christians, that they had no images: which the 
first apologists are so far from denying, that they answered 
them, that it was impossible for him who knew God, to 
worship images. But as human nature is inclined to visible 
objects of worship, so it seems some began to paint the walls 
of their churches with pictures, or at least moved for it. In 
the beginning of the fourth century this was condemned by 
the council of Eliberis, Can. 36. It pleases us to have no 
pictures in churches, lest that ivhich is worshipped should be 
painted upon the walls. Towards the end of that century, w^' 
Epiph. Ep. have an account given us by Epiphanius, of his indignation 
ifieros"* Occasioned by a picture that he saw upon a veil at Anablatha. 

He did not much consider whose picture it was, whether a- 
picture of Christ or of some saint; he positively affirms it wai^ 
against the authority of the scriptures, and the Christian re- 
ligion, and therefore he tore it, but supplied that church with 
another veil. It seems, private persons had statues of Christ 
and the apostles ; which Eusebius censures, where he reportis 
h"T^E j ^ remnant of heathenism.'^ It is plain enough from some 
1. vii.c.18.' passages in St. Austin, that he knew of no images in churche^ 
Aug. in. in the beginning of the fifth century. It is true, they begaA 
deM^^'b brought before that time into some of the churches of 

E^cci Catr Pontus and Cappadocia, which was done very probably 1^ 
c. 34. ' ^ 

* The following is the passage from Eusebius referred to by our author : 
' In so much as we have made mention of this city, Paneas, I think I shall offend 
if I pass over with silence a certain history worthy to be related to the posterity. 
The report goeth, that the woman whose bloody flux we learn to have been cured 
by our Saviour in tiie gospel, was of the aforesaid city, and that her house is there 
to be seen, and a worthy monument yet there to continue of the benefit conferred 
by our Saviour upon her. That there standeth over an high stone, right over 
against the door of her house, an image of brass resembling the form of a woman 
kneeling upon her knees, holding her hands before her, after the manner of suppli- 
cation. Again, that there standeth over against this another image of a man 
molten of the same metal, comely arrayed in a short vesture, stretching forth his 
hand unto the woman, at whose feet in the same pillar there groweth up from the 
ground a certain unknown kind of herb in the height unto the hem of the brazen 
image's vesture, curing all kinds of maladies. This picture of the man, they report 
to be the image of Jesus. It hath continued unto our time, and is to be seen of tra- 
vellers that frequent the same city. Neither is it any marvel at all, that they which 
of the Gentiles were cured by our Saviour, made and set up such things, for that 
we have seen the pictures of his apostles, to wit, of Paul, of Peter, and of Christ 
himself, being graven in their colours, to have been kept and reverenced. For the 
men of old of a heathenish custom, were wont to honour after this maimer such as they 
counted saviours.' — -[En.] 



THE XXXIX ARTICLES. 309 

w the heathens, by this piece of conformity to them, to A R;T, 
Hke the Christian worship the better. For that humour 
began to work, and appeared in many instances of other 
kinds as well as in this. 

It was not possible that people could see pictures in their 
churches long, mthout paying some marks of respect to 
them, which grew in a little time to the do^right worship 
of them. A famous instance we have of this in the sixth 
century : Serenus, bishop of Marseilles, finding that he could 
not restrain his people from the worship of images, broke 
them in pieces ; upon which pope Gregory writ to him, Greg, 
blaming him indeed for breaking the images, but commending Epist.1. ix. 
him for not allowing them to be worshipped : this he pro- ^P" ^' 
secutes in a variety of very plain expressions ; It is one thing 
to ivorship an image, and another thing to leaim by it what is to 
be worshipped : he says they were set up, not to be wor- 
shipped, but to instruct the ignorant, and cites our Saviour^s 
words, ^Thou shalt worship the Lord thy God, and him only 
shalt thou serve,^ to prove that it was not lawful to worship 
the work of men's hands. We see by a fragment cited in the ,j 
second Nicene council, that both Jews and Gentiles took oiLc 
advantages from the worship of images, to reproach the oi^^ii 
Christians soon after that time. The Jews were scandalized 
at their worshipping images, as being expressly against the 
command of God. The Gentiles had also by it great ad- 
vantages of turning back upon the Christians aE th^1l^^jjb^4 
been written against their images in the former ages, .^.f, ? 

At last, in the beginning of the eighth century, the famous .daaua 
controversy about the having or breaking of images grew hoti^b^a .leiH 
The churches of Italy were so set on the worshipping of them| 
that pope Gregory the Second* gives this for the reason ojF jiixata*! 
their rebelhng against the emperor, because of his opposition ^yrfnoMsb 
to images. And here in httle more than an hundred years 
the see of Rome changed its doctrine, pope Gregory the 
Second being as positive for the worshipping them, as the 
first of that name had been against it. Violent contentions 
arose upon this head. The breakers of images were charged 
with Judaism, Samaritanism, and Manicheism; and the wor- 
shippers of them were charged with Gentilism and idolatr}^ 
One general council at Constantinople, consisting of about 
three hundred and thirty-eight bishops, condemned the wor- 
shipping them as idolatrous : but another at Nice, of three 
hundred and fifty bishops, though others say they were only 
three hundred, asserted the worship of them. Yet as soon 
as this was known in the west, how active soever the see 
of Rome was for estabhshing their worship, a council of about 
three hundred bishops met at Francfurt, under Charles the 

* This is owned by all the historians of that age, Anastasius, Zonaras, Cedrenus, 
Glycas, Theophanes, Sigebert, Otho, Fris. Urspergensis, Sigonius, Rubens, and 
Ciaconius. 



^ikN EXPOSITION oW^ 

Grreat, which condemned the N-icene council/ together with the 
worship of images. The Gallican church insisted long upoW 
this matter ; books were published in the name of Charles 
the Great against them. A council held at Paris under his 
son did also condemn image-worship as contrary to the honour 
that is due to God only, and to the commands that he 
has given us in scripture. The Nicene council was rejected 
here in England^ as our historians tell us, because it asserted 
the adoration of images, which the church of God abhors, 
Agobard, bishop of Lyons, and Claud of Turin, writ against 
it; the former writ with great vehemence : the learned men 
of that communion do now acknowledge, that what he writ 
was according to the sense of the Gallican church in that age: 
and even Jonas of Orleans, who studied to moderate the matter, 
and to reconcile the Gallican bishops to the see of Rome, yet 
does himseK declare against the worship of images. 

We are not concerned to examine how it came that aU thii^ 
vigorous opposition to image-worship went off so soon. It is 
enough to us, that it was once made so resolutely; let those 
Acta Con think it so incredible a thing, that churches should depart 
Nic. 2. * from their received traditions, answer this as they can. As 
Action. 4, for the methods then used, and the arguments that were theri 
5,6,7. brought to infuse this doctrine into the world, he who will 
read the history and acts of the Nicene council, will find 
enough to incline him to a very bad opinion, both of the men 
and of their doctrine ; though he were ever so much inclined 
to think well of them. After all, though that council laid the 
foundation of image- worship, yet the church of Rome has 
made great improvements in it since. Those of Nice ex- 
pressed a detestation of an image made to represent the 
Deity ; they go no higher than the images of Christ and the 
Saints ; whereas since that time the Deity and the Trinity have 
been represented by images and pictures : and that not only 
by connivance, but by authority in the church of Rome. Bel- 
larmine,* Suarez, and others, prove the lawfulness of such 
images from the general practice of the church. Others go 
further, and from the caution given in the decree of the 
council of Trent, concerning the images of God, do infer, that 
they are allowed by that council, provided they be decently 
made. Directions are also given concerning the use of the 
image of the Trinity in public offices among them. In a word, 
all their late doctors agree, that they are lawful, and reckon 
the calling that in question to be not only rashness, but an 
error ; and such as have held it unlawful to make such images 
v/ere especially condemned at Rome, December 17, 1690. 
The varieties of those images, and the boldness of them, are 
things apt to give horror to modest minds, not accustomed to 

* Bellarm. 1. ii. c. 8. De Relig. et imagin. Sanct. Suarez. M. 3. Ysambert 
de Mist. Incarn. ad qusest. 25. dis. 3. Vasquez in 3 Aquin. disp. 113, c. 3. ct d.sp. 
exlv. cc. 3. 4. Cajetan. in 3 Aquin. quasst. 25. A. 3. 



THE XX:?^IX ARTICLES. 



311 



such attempts. It must be acknowledged, that the old em- a r t. 
blematical images of the lEgyptians, and the grosser ones now 
used by the Chmese, are much more instructing, and much 
less scandalous figures. 

As the Roman church has gone beyond the Nicene council Con. Nk;. 
in the images that they allow of, so they have also gone be- \^^^q^ 
yond them in the degrees of the worship that they offer to 
them. At Nice the worship of images was very positively 
decreed, with anathemas against those who did it not :* a bare 
honour they reckoned was not enough. They thought it was 
a very valuable argument, that was brought from those words 
of Christ to the Devil, •^Thou shalt worship the Lord thy God, 
and him only shalt thou serve f that here service is only ap- 
propriated to God, but not worship. Among the acts of 
worship they reckon the oblation of incense and hghts ; and 
the reason given by them for all this is, because the honour of 
the image, or type, passes to the original, or prototype ; so that 
plain and direct worship was to terminate on the image itself : 
and Durandus passed for little less than a heretic, because he Duran. in 
thought that images were worshipped only improperly and ^^^^^'g 
abusively, because at their presence we call to mind the object q' 2. n. 15. 
represented by them, which we worship before the image, as 
if the object itself were before us. ' V d s 

The council of Nice did plainly assert the direct worship of 
images, but they did as positively declare,t that they meant 

* A^ice % Act. 1. Labbai et Cossartii, vol. vii. p. 60. Paris, 1671. Adrian tl 
^oye, anno 787. o 
" ' Sanctse et universali synodo Theodosius exiguus Christianus. Confiteor, et 
polliceor, et recipio araplector atque adorb principaliter intemeratam iconam domini 
Nostri Jesu Christi veri Dei Nostri, et iconam Dei genetricis, quae ilium sine semine 
peperit ; et auxilium et protectionem ejus, et intercessiones illius unaquaque die 
ac nocte invoco ut peccator in adjutorium meum, tanquam earn, quae habeat 
confidentiam apud Christum Dominum Nostrum, qui ex ea natus est. Pari mode 
sanctorum et laudabilissimorura Apostolorum, prophetarum, et martyrum, et patrum 
atque cultorum eremi iconas recipio et adoro, non tanquam deos (absit) sed affec- 
tum et amorem animse mese, quem habebam prius in eos, etiam nunc ostendens, rogo 
cunctos illos ex tota anima ut intercedant pro me ad Deum, quatenus det mihi per 
intercessiones eorum invenire misericordiam penes se in die judicii. Similiter et 
lipsana sanctorum adoro et honoro, et araplector, tanquam eorum qui decertaverint 
pro Christo, et acceperint gratiam ab ipso ad sanitatis efficiendas, et languores 

•curandos, et daemones ejiciendos, quemadraodum ecclesia Christianorum suscepit 
a Sanctis Apostolis et patribus, et usque ad nos. Pingi autem consentio in ecclesiis 
sanctorum principaliter iconam domini Nostri Jesu Christi et sanctse Dei genetricis, 
ex varia materia auri et argenti, et omni colore : ut carnea dispensatio ipsius om- 
nibus innotescat. — His qui non adorant, anathema. His qui audent detrahere, &c. 
vel vocare illas idola, anathema. His qui non docent diligenter cunctum Christi ama- 
torem populum adorare venerabiles iconas, &c. &c. anathema.' — [Eb.] 

t Act 7. Vol. vii. p. 556. 

* Definimus in omni certitudine ac diligentia, sicut figuram preciosse ac vivificse 
crucis, ita venerabiles ac sanctas imagines proponendas, tam quae de coloribus et 
tessellis, quam quae ex alia materia congruentur in Sanctis Dei ecclesiis, et sacris 
vasis, et vestibus, et in parietibus ac tabulis, domibus et viis : tam videlicet imaginem 
domini Dei et salvatoris nostri Jesu Christi quara intemeratse dominse nostree sanctae 
Dei genetricis, honorabilumq. angelorum, et omniura sanctorum simul et almorum 
virorum. Quanto enim frequentius per imaginalem forraationem videntur, tanto qui 
has contemplantur, alacrius eriguntur ad primitivorum earum memoriam et desi- 



PilN EXPOSITION ajV I 



A R T. only that it should be an honorary adoration, and not the true 
XXII. lafria, which was only due to God. And whatever some 
modern representers and expositors of the Roman doctrine 
may say, to soften the harshness of the worship of images, it 
is very copiously proved, both from the words of the council 

Con. Nic. of Nice, and from all the eminent writers in that communioij.^^^ 

Act. 2, even from the time of Aquinas,* and of the modern schoolmen;, 
- and writers of controversy, that direct worship ought to be 
offered to the image itself : this reserve of the latria to God, 
being an evident proof, that all inferior acts of worship were 
allowed them. But this reserve does no way please the 

'obyO. later writers ; for Aquinas, and many from him do teach, 
that the same acts and degrees of worship which are due 
to the original, are also due to the image; they think an 
image has such a relation to the original, that both ought to 
be worshipped by the same act, and that to worship the image 
with any other sort of acts, is to worship it on its own account, 
which they think is idolatry. Whereas others adhering to the 
Nicene doctrine, think that the image is to be worshipped with 
an inferior degree, that othermse idolatry must follow. So 
here the danger of idolatry is threatened of both sides ; and 
since one of them must be chosen, thus it will follow, that let 
a man do what he can, he must commit idolatry, according to,^ 
the opinion of some very subtile and learned men among them^. j 

Se°s^5^* '^^^ council of Trent did indeed decline to give a clear de- 
cision in this matter, and only decreed, that due ivorship should 
be given to images ;t b^t did not determine what that f/z^e 



derium, et ad osculum, et ad honorariam his adorationem tribuendam. Non tamen ad 
veram latriam, qusB secundum fidem est, quseq. solam divinam naturam decel*,;; 
impartiendam : ita ut istis, sicuti figurse preciosse ac vivificse crucis et Sanctis evap.-., 
geliis et reliquis sacris monuraentis, incensorum .et luminura oblatio ad haruih " 
honorem efficiendum exhibeatur, quemadmodum et antiquis pise consuetudinis erat. 
Imaginis enim honor ad primitivum transit : et qui adorat imaginem, adprat ini, 
ea depicti subsistentiara.' ,p 'f fAffi 

And in the same council we have the following adoration of the cross— keetHct , 
VII. p. 583. ' Crucem tuam adoramus domine, et adoramus lauceam quae >Sp^8S f 
vivificum latus tuse bonitatis.' — [Ed.] ' .'jn " 

* Aquin. 2. p. q. 25. art. 3. See to the same purpose, Alex. Hales, Bonaveh^ 
ture, Ricardus de Media villa palud. Almans. Biel Summa Angelica, and manj 
more cited by bishop Stillingfleet's Defence of the Charge of Idolatry, part II. 
chap. 2. 

f The following is the decree of the council of Trent concerning the worship of 
relics and images : 

' Sanctorum quoque martyrum, et aliorum cum Christo viventium sancta corpora, 
quse viva membra fuerunt Christi, et templum Spiritus sancti, ab ipso ad eeternam 
vitam suscitanda et glorificanda, a fidelibus venerande esse : per quae multa bene- 
ficia a Deo hominibus praestantur : ita ut affirmantes, sanctorum reliquiis veneratio- 
nem atque honorem non deberi ; vel eas aliaque sacra monumenta a fidelibus 
inutiliter honorari ; atque eorum opis impetrandse causa sanctorum memorias frustra 
frequentari ; omnino damnandos esse, prout jampridem eos damnavit, et nunc 
etiam damnat ecclesia. Imagines proro Christi, deiparae Virginis, et aliorum 
sanctorum, in templis preesertim habendas et retinendas, iisque debitum honorem et 
venerationem impertiendam ; non quod credatur inesse aliqua in iis divinitas, vel 
virtus, propter quam sint colendae ; vel quod ab eis sit aliquid petendum ; vel quod 
fiducia in imaginibus sit Agenda, veluti olim fiebat a gentilibus, quse in idolis spem 



THE XXXIX ARTICLES. 



313 



worship was. And though it appears by the decree, that there A R T. 

were abuses committed among them in that matter, yet they 

only appoint some regulations, concerning such images as 

were to be suffered, and that others were to be removed ; but 

they left the divines to fight out the matter concerning the 

due ivorship that ought to be given to images. They were See bishop' 

then in haste, and intended to offend no party ; and as they ^^^^'"1 

would not justify all that had been said or done concerning pra.' 

the worship of images, so they would condemn no part of it : 

yet they confirmed the Nicene council, and in particular made 

use of that maxim of theirs, that the honour of the type goes to Pont. 

the prototype ; and thus they left it as they found it. So that Rom.Ordo 

the dispute goes on still as hot as ever. The practice of the im^r^''^* 

Roman church is express for the latria to be given to images : Rubri.* 

and therefore all that write for it do frequently cite that hymn. 

Crux Ave spes unica, auge piis justitiam, reisque dona veniam. 

It is expressly said in the Pontifical, Cruci debetur latria, and 

the prayers used in the consecration of a cross ; it is prayed,* 

that the blessing of that cross, on which Christ hung, may be in 

it, that it may be a healthful remedy to mankind, a strength- 

ener of faith, an increaser of good works, the redemption of 

souls, and a comfort, protection, and defence, against the cruelty 

of our enemies. These with all the other acts of adoration ' 

used among them, seem to favour those who are for a latria to ,^ 

be given to all those images, to the originals of which it is due; 

and in the like proportion for dulia and hyperdulia to other 

images. It is needless to prosecute this matter further. 

It seemed necessary to say so much, to justify our church, 
which has in her Homilies laid this charge of idolatry very 
severely on the church of Rome ; and this is so high an im- 
putation, that those who think it false, as they caimot, with ' 
a good conscience, subscribe, or require others to subscribe ] 
the Article concerning the Homilies, so they ought to retract 
their own subscriptions, and to make solemn reparations in 
justice and honour, for laying so heavy an imputation unjustly 
upon that whole communion. 

There is nothing that can be brought from scripture, that 

suarn collocabant ; sed quoniam hones, qui eis exhibetur, refertur adprototypa, quae 
illee repreesentant : ita ut per imagines, quas osculamur, et corana quibus caput 
aperimus et procumbimus, Christum adoremus, €t sanctos, quorum illse similitu- 
dinem gerunt veneremur ; id quod conciliorum, prsesertim vero secundse Nicaense sy- 
nodi, decretis contra imaginum oppugnatores est sancitum.' Ses&io xxv. In this 
Sessio the council of Trent, it will be observed, appeals to the authority of the 
second Nicene council on the subject of image-worship. — [Ed.] 
* In benedictione novae Crucis. 

Rogamus te Domine, sancte Pater, omnipotens sempiterne Deus, ut digneris 
benedicere hoc lignum Crucis tuae, ut sit remedium salutare generi humano, si't 
soliditas fidei, profectus bonorum operum, redemptio animarum, sit solamen et pro- 
tectio ac tutela contra saevajacula inimicorum. Per Dom. 

Sanctificetur lignum istud in nomine Patris et Filii et Spiritus Sancti, et bene- 
dictio illius ligni in quo membra sancta Salvatoris suspensa sunt sit in isto ligno, ut 
orantes inclinantosque se propter Deum ante istam crucem inveniant corporis et 
animae sanitatem per eundem. 



^CBXPOSITION OF 



All?, has a show of an argument for supporting image-worship, it^ : 
less it be that of the cherubims that were in the ^ hohest of 
iieb. ix. 3, f^U 5^ and they, as is supposed, were worshipped, at least by 
5, 7. the high-priest when he went thither, once a year, if not by 
the whole people. But first there is a great diiFerence to be 
made between a form of worship immediately prescribed by 
God, and another form that not only has no warrant for it, 
but seems to be very expressly forbidden. It is plain, the 
cherubims were not seen by the people, and so they could be 
no visible object of worship to them. They were scarce seen 
by the high-priest himself, for the holiest of all was quite 
dark; no light coming into it, but what came through the veil 
from the holy place ; and even that had very little hght. Nor 
is there a word concerning the high-priest^s worshipping either 
the ark or the cherubim. It is true, there is a place in the 
Psalms that seems to favour this; as it is rendered by the 
Psal. xcix. y^ig^Y, ^ worship his footstool, for it is holy ;' but both the 
Hebrew and the Septuagint have it, as it is in our translation, 
^ worship at his footstool, for he is holy;' and all the Greek 
fathers cite these words so. Many of the Latin fathers do 
also cite them according to the Greek; and the last words of 
the Psalm, in which the same words are repeated, make the 
sense of it evident: for there it is thus varied, ^ Exalt ye the 
Lord our God, and worship at his holy hill, for the Lord our 
God is holy.' These words coming so soon after the former, 
are a paraphrase to them, and determine their sense. No 
doubt the high-priest worshipped God, who dwelt between 
the cherubims, in that cloud of glory in which he shewed him- 
self visibly present in his temple; but there is no sort of 
reason to think, that in so majestic a presence, adoration? 
could be offered to any thing else; or that after the high- 
priest had adored the divine essence so manifested, he would 
have fallen to worship the ark and the cherubims. This 
agrees ill with the figure that is so much used in this matter 
of a king and his chair of state ; for in the presence of the 
king, aU respects terminate in his person, whatsoever may be 
done in his absence. 

And thus, this being not so much as a precedent, much less 
an argument, for the use of images ; and there being nothing 
else brought from scripture, that with any sort of wresting 
can be urged for it, and the sense and practice of the whole 
church being so express against it, the progress of it having 
been so long and so much disputed, the tendency of it to 
superstition and abuse being by their own confession so 
visible ; the scandal that it gives to Jews and Mahometans 
being so apparent, and it carrying in its outward appearances 
such a conformity (to say at present no more) to heathenish 
idolatry, we think we have all possible advantages in this 
argument. We adhere to that purity of worship which is in 
both Testaments so much insisted on ; we avoid all scandal. 



THE XXXIX ARTICLES. 



and make no approaches to heathenism^ and follow the pat- AR1..> 
tern set us by the primitive church. And as our simplicity of 
worship needs not be defended^ since it proves itself; so no .xi.tjsU 
proofs are brought for the other side^ but only a pretended a,g 
usefuhiess in outward figures^ to raise the mind by the senses 
to just apprehensions of spiritual objects ; which^ allowing it 
true, will only conclude for the historical use of images, but 
not for the directing our worship towards them. But the 
effect is quite contrary to the pretence ; for, instead of raising 
the mind by the senses, the mind is ra^tlier sunk by thefifijlitQc 
gross ideas. ; .ih^mrrf : odi 

The bias of human nature lies to sense, and to form gross 
imaginations of incorporeal objects ; and therefore, instead of 
gratifying these, we ought to wean our minds from them, and 
to raise them above them all we can. Even men of specula- 
tion and abstraction feel nature in this grows too bard for 
them ; but the vulgar is apt to fall so headlong into these con- 
ceits, that it looks like the laying of snares for them, to fur- ^ 
nish them with such methods and helps for their having gross 
thoughts of spiritual objects. The fondness that the people 
have for images, their readiness to believe the most incredible 
stories concerning them, the expense they are at to enrich and 
adorn them, their prostrations before them, their confidence 
in them, their humble and tender embracing and kissing 
of them, their pompous and heathenish processions to do them 
konour, the fraternities erected for particular images, not to 
mention the more universal and established practices of direct- 
ing their prayers to them, of setting lights before them, and 
of incensing them ; these, I say, are things too well known, to 
such as have seen the way of that religion, that they should 
need to be much enlarged on; and yet they are not only 
allowed of, but encouraged. Those among them who have 
too much good sense that they should sink into those foohsh 
apprehensions themselves, yet must not only bear with them^ 
but often comply with them to avoid the giving of scandal, as 
they call it ; not considering the much greater scandal that 
they give, when they encourage others by their practice to go 
on in these folhes. The enlarging into all the corruptions 
occasioned by this way of worship would carry me far ; but it 
seems not necessary, the thing is so plain in itself, 
f The next head in this Article is a full instance of it, which 
is, the worship of relics. It is no wonder that great care was 
taken in the beginnings of Christianity, to shew all possible 
respect and tenderness even to the bodies of the martyrs. 
There is something of this planted so deep in human nature, 
that though the philosophy of it cannot be so well made out, 
yet it seems to be somewhat more than an universal custom ; 
humanity is of its side, and is apt to carry men to the pro- 
fusions of pomp and cost: all religions do agree in this, so 
that we need not wonder if Christians, in the first fervour of 



ART. 
XXII. 



Ep. Ecc. 
Smyin. 
apud Eu- 
seb. 1. 4. 
c. 15. Jul. 
A p. Cyril, 
lib. vi. lib. 
X. Ennap. 
in vita 
^dess. 



Aug. de 
opere mo- 
nach.c.28, 



Ilieron. 
adv. Vigi- 
lant. 



1 Cor. vi. 
19. 
Deut. 
xxxiv. 6. 



de " AN fixpositioN of 

their religion^ believing the resurrection so firmly as tKey did> 
and having a high sense of the honour done to Christ and his 
religion by the sufferings of the martyrs ; if, I say^ they studied 
to gather their bones and ashes together^ and bury them de- 
cently. They thought it a sign of their being joined with them 
in one body, to hold their assemblies at the places where they 
were buried : this might be also considered as a motive to en- 
courage others to follow the example that they had given them, 
even to martyrdom : and therefore all the marks of honour 
were put even upon their bodies that could be thought on, 
except worship. After the ages of persecution were over, 
a fondness of having and keeping their relics began to spread 
itself in many places. Monks fed that humour by carrying 
them about. We find in St. Austin's works, that superstition 
was making a great progress in Afric upon these heads, of 
which he complains frequently. Vigilantius had done it to 
more purpose in Spain; and did not only complain of the 
excesses, but of the thing in itself. St. Jerome fell unmer- 
cifully upon him for it, and sets a high value upon relics, yet 
he does not speak one word of worshipping them ; he denies 
and disclaims it, and seems only to allow of a great fondness 
for them; and, with most of that age, he was very apt to 
beheve, that miracles were oft wrought by them. When 
superstition is once suffered to mix with religion, it will be 
still gaining ground, and it admits of no bounds: so this 
matter went on, and new legends were invented; but when 
the controversy of image-worship began, it followed that as am 
accessary. The enshrining of relics occasioned the most ex- 
cellent sort of images ; and they were thought the best pre- 
servatives possible both for soul and body ; no presents grew 
to be more valued than relics ; and it was an easy thing for 
the popes to furnish the world plentifully that way, but chiefly 
since the discovery of the catacombs, w^hich has furnished 
them with stores not to be exhausted. The council of Trent 
did in this, as in the point of images ; it appointed relics to be 
venerated, but did not determine the degree ;'^ so it left the 
world in possession of a most excessive dotage upon them 
They are used every where by them as sacred charms, kissed, 
and worshipped, they are served with lights and incense. 

In opposition to all this, we think, that all decent honours 
are indeed due to the bodies of the saints, which were once 
the ^temples of the Holy Ghost:' but since it is said, that God 
took that care of the body of Moses, so as to bury it in such 
a manner that no man knew of his sepulchre, there seems to 
have been in this a peculiar caution guarding against that su- 
perstition, which the Jews might very probably have fallen 
into with relation to his body. And this seems so clear an 
indication of the will of God in this matter, that we reckon we 



* For the decree concerning relic- worship, see note, p. 313. — [Ed.] 



THE XXXIX ARTICLES. 



317 



are very safe when we do no further honour to the body of a art. 
saint^ than to bury it. And though that saint had been ever XXII. 
so eminent^ not only for his hoUness, but even for miracles 
wrought by him, by his shadow, or even by looking upon 
him; yet the history of the brazen serpent shews us, that 
a fondness even on the instruments, that God made use of to .oaS.qa 
work miracles by, degenerates easily to the superstition of ' 
burning incense to them ; but when that appears, it is to 
be checked, even by breaking that which was so abused. 
Hezekiah is commended for breaking in pieces that noble^Kingi^ 
remain of Moses's time till then preserved ; neither its anti- ^""n^i . 
quity, nor the signal miracles once wrought by it^ could balance '^^7,"* 
the ill us6 that was then made of it : that good king broke it^ 
for which he might have had a worse name than an iconoclast, 
if he had lived in some ages. It is true, miracles were of old s-'^ 
wrought by Aaron's rod, by Ehsha's bones after his death, and 2 King|^M<> 
the one was preserved, but not worshipped; nor was there any 
superstition that followed on the other. Not a word of this 
fondness appears in the beginnings of Christianity; though it oieiil 
had been an easy thing at that time to have furnished the ' 
world with pieces of our Saviour's garments, hair, or nails ; 
and great store might have been had of the Virgin's and tha 
apostles' relics : St. Stephen's and St. James's bones might 
have been then parcelled about: and if that spirit had then 
reigned in the church, which has been in the Roman church 
now above a thousand years, we should have heard of the relics 
that were sent about from Jerusalem to all tlie churches. But 
when such things might have been had in great abundance, 
and have been known not to be counterfeits, we hear not 
a word of them. If a fondness for relics had been in the 
church upon Christ's ascension, what care would have been 
taken to have made great collections of them ! 

Then we see no other care about the body of St. Stephen 
but to bury it ; and not long after that time upon St. Poly- 
carp's martyrdom, when the Jews, who had set on the pro- 
secution against him, suggested, that, if the Christians could 
gain his body, they w^ould perhaps forsake Christ and worship 
him ; they rejected the accusation with horror ; for in the 
epistle which the church of Smyrna writ upon his martyrdom, 
after they mention this insinuation, they have those remark- 
able words, which belong both to this head, and to that w^hich 
follows it of the invocation and worship of saints. These 
knoiv not that ive can neither forsake Christ, who suffered for ^- iv. c. 16J 
the salvation of all that are saved, the innocent for the guilty, .^^y 
7ior worship any other; Him truly being the Son of God tve ,d .vixxx 
adore: but the martyrs, and disciples, and folloivers of the 
Lord, ive justly love, for that extraordinary good mind, lohich 
they have expressed toivard their King and Master, of ivhose 
happiness God grant that ive may partake, and that ive may 
learn by their examples. The Jews had so persuaded the 



AN EXPOSITION OT 



A ET Gentiles of Smyrna of this matter^ that they burnt St. Poly- 
^Xll. carpus body; but the Christians gathered up his bones with 
much respect, so that it appeared how they honoured them, 
though they could not worship them ; and they buried them 
in a convenient place,* which they intended to make the place 
where they should hold, by the blessing of God, the yearly 
commemoration of that birth-day of his martyrdom, with much 
joy and gladness, both to honour the memory of those who had 
overcome in that glorious engagement, and to instruct and conr- 
firm all others by their example. This is one of the most 
valuable pieces of true and genuine antiquity ; and it shew3 
us very fully the sense of that age both concerning the relics, 
and the worship of the saints. In the following ages, we find 
no characters of any other regard to the bones or bodies of 
jaog'c'i!! tj^g saints, but that they buried them very decently, and did 
annually commemorate their death, calling it their birth-day. 
And it may incline men strongly to suspect the many miracles 
that were published in the fourth century, as wrought at the 
tombs, or memories of the martyrs, or by their relics, that we 
hear of none of those in the former three centuries ; for it 
seems there was more occasion for them during the perseeu^ 
tion, than after it was over ; it being much more necessary 
then to furnish Christians wdth so strong a motive as this 
must have been, to ^ resist even to blood,' when God was 
pleased to glorify himself so signally in his saints. This,^| 
say, forces us to fear, that credulity and imagination, or somri« 
what worse than both these, might have had a large share iir 
those extraordinary things that are related to us by great m&n 
in the fourth century. He must have a gi'eat disposition to 
believe wonderful things, that can digest the extraordinary 
Basil. relations that are even in St. Basil, St. Ambrose, and St. 
Horn. xix. Austin ; and most signally in St. Jerome : for instance, that 
m Sanct. ^fter One had stolen Hilarion's body out of Cyprus, and 
giQt. brought it to Palestine, upon which Constantia, that wenj^ 
Martyr, in constantly to his tomb, was ready to have broke her heart 5 
in°SancT"* ^<^ok such pity on her, that as the true body wrought 

Mart. * O'Jf 
Maman. * In reference to this subject, Dr. Milner, in his ' End of Religious Controversj^^s 
Paul, in thus writes: — 

vita ' The whole history of the martyrs, from St. Ignatius and St. Polycarp, the disr 

Ambros. ciples of the apostles, whose relics, after their execution, were carried away by the 
Auo. de Christians, as " more valuable than gold and precious stones," down to the latest 
Civit, Dei martyr, incontestibly proves the veneration which the church has ever entertained 
lib. xxii. * for these sacred objects.' We might fairly conclude from these words that the 
c. 8. early Christians held the popish doctrine of the worship of relics ; and indeed Dr. 

Milner refers with such confidence to Eusebius, that one not acquainted with the 
sophistry and dishonesty of the advocates of popery would unhesitatingly conclude 
that the historian of the early church had clearly established this position. But 
what is the fact ? Let Eusebius himself speak . ' So we gathered his (Polycarp's) 
bones, more precious than pearls, and better tried than gold, and buried them in the 
place that was fit for that purpose,' &c. This is the passage to which Dr. M. refers; 
and those marked are the words which immediately follow the Doctor's quotation 
from Eusebius, but which, in his defence of relic- worship, have been so carefully 
suppi'essed. — [Ed.] 



THE XXXIX ARTICLES. 



319 



grekt itiii^des in Palestine, so likewise very great miracles ART. 
continued still to be wrought at the tomb, where it was at XXII. 
first laid. One, in respect to those great men, is tempted to 
snspect that many things might have been foisted into their 
writings in the following ages. A great many practices of 
this kind have been made manifest beyond contradiction.* 
Whole books have been made to pass for the writings of 
fathers, that do evidently bear the marks of a much later date, 
where the fraud was carried too far not to be discovered. At 
other times parcels have been laid in among their genuine 
productions, which cannot be so easily distinguished; they 
not being liable to so many critical inquiries, as may be made 
on a larger work. It is a little unaccountable how so many 
marvellous things should be pubhshed in that age; and yet 
that St. Chrysostom, who spent his whole life between two of pjl^''^^ g**'. 
the publickest scenes of the world, Antioch and Constanti- laTcor.ii! 
nople, and was an active and inquisitive man, should not so 
much as have heard of any such wonderful stories ; but should 
haA^e taken pains to remove a prejudice out of the minds of 
his hearers, that might arise from this, that whereas they 
heard of many miracles that were wrought in the times of the 
apostles, none were wrought at that time; upon which, he 
gives very good reason why it was so. His saying so posi- 
tively. That none were wrought at that time, without so much 
as a salvo for what he might have heard from other parts, 
shews plainly, that he had not heard of any at all. For he 
was orator enough to have made even looser reports look 
prx)bable. This does very much shake the credit of those 
amazing relations that we find in St. Jerome, St. Ambrose, and 
St. Austin. It is true, there seems to have been an opinion 
very generally received both in the east and the west, at that jia^g 
time, which must have very much heightened the growing xix .moH 
superstition for relics. It was a remnant both of Judaism and ^^"^^ 
Gentilism, that the souls of the martyrs hovered about their 
tombs, called their memories ; and that therefore they might 
be called upon, and spoke to there. This appears even in the 
council of EUiberis, where the superstition of lighting can- 
dles about their tombs in daylight is forbidden : the reason 
given is, because the spirits were not to be disquieted. St. 
Basil, and the other fathers, that do so often mention the Basil, 
going to their memories, do very plainly insinuate their being j^^^^g^j^^j^* 
present at them, and hearing themselves called upon. This quadra- 
may be the reason why, among all the saints that are so much gint. 
magnified in that age, we never find the blessed Virgin so ^^^^y- 
much as once mentioned. They knew not where her body 
was laid, they had no tomb for her, no nor any of her relics 

* The reader will find valuable information on this subject in Dr. James's ' Trea- 
tise of the Corruptions of Scripture, Councils, and Fathers, by the Prelates, Pas- 
tors, and Pillars of the chui'ch of Rome, for maintenance of Popery,' in which the 
bastardy of the false Fathers and the corruption of the true Fathers are demon- 
strated beyond the possibility of contradiction. — [Ed.] 



320 



AN EXPOSITION OF 



ART. or utensils. But upon the occasion of Nestorius's denying 
'^fif - her to be the mother of God, and by carrying the opposition 
II Z Z to that too far, a superstition for her was set on foot ; it made 
— . ^ progress sufficient to balance the slowness of its beginning; 

the whole world was then filled with very extravagant devo- 
tions for her. nmQ oi «i>i 

The great noise W^e fiticl cidncermng relics in the end of the 
fourth century, has all the characters of novelty possible in it; 
for those who speak of it, do not derive it from former times. 
One circumstance in this is very remarkable, that neither 
Trypho, Celsus, Lucian, nor Cecilius, do object to the Chris- 
tians of their time their fondness for dead bodies, or praying 
about their tombs, which they might well have alleged in op- 
position to what the Christians charged them with, if there 
had been any occasion for it. Whereas this custom was no 
sooner begun, than both Julian and Eunapius reproach the 
A p. Cyr. Christians for it. Julian, it is true, speaks only of their call- 
con Juiian God ovcr sepulchres : Eunapius writ after him ; and it 
Eunap. in sccms, in his time, that which Julian sets forth as a calling 
vita upon God, was advanced to an invocation of them. He 
says, they heaped together the bones and skulls of men that had 
been punished for many crimes (it was natural enough for a 
spiteful heathen to give this representation of their martyr- 
dom), holding them for gods : and after some scurrilous invec- 
tives against them, he adds, they are called martyrs, and made 
the ministei^s and messengers of prayer to the gods. This seems 
to be a very evident proof of the novelty of this matter. As 
■ A for the adoring them, when Vigilantius asked. Why dost 
thou kiss and adore a little dust put up in fine linen ? St. 
Jerome, though excessively fond of them, denies this very 
positively, and that in very injurious terms, being oiFended at 
the injustice of the reproach. Yet as long as the bodies df 
the martyrs were let lie quietly in their memories, the fond 
opinion of their being present, and hearing what was said to 
them, made the invocating them look like one man's desiring 
the assistance of another good man's prayers; so that this 
step seemed to have a fair colour. But when their bodies 
were pulled asunder, and carried up and down, so that it was 
believed miracles abounded every where about them ; and 
when their bones and relics grew to increase and multiply, s6 
that they had more bones and limbs than God and nature had 
given them ; then new hypotheses were to be found out to 
justify the calling upon them every where, as their relics were 
Hieron. Spread. St. Jerome, in his careless way, says, they followed 
la^nt I^amh whithersoever he went, and seems to make no doubt 
cura pro ^* their being, if not every where, yet in several places at 
mortuis, once. But St. Austin, who could follow a consequence much 
c. 16. further in his thoughts, though he doubted not but that men 
were much the better for the prayers of the martyrs, yet he 
confesses that it passed the strength of his understanding to 



THE XXXIX ARTICLES. 3^1 

determine^ whether they heard those who called upon them at ART. 
then' memories, or wheresoever else they were believed to XXII. 
have appeared, or not. But the devotions that are spoken of 
by all of that age, are related as having been olFered at their 
memories ; so that this seems to have been the general opinion, 
as well as it was the common practice of that age, though it is 
no wonder if this conceit once giving some colour and credit 
to the invocating them, that did quickly increase itself to a 
general invocation of them every where. And thus a fond- 
ness for their relics, joined with the opinion of their relation 
and nearness to them, did in a short time grow up to a direct 
worshipping of them ; and, by the fruitfulness that always 
follows superstition, did spread itself further, to their clothes, 
utensils, and every thing else that had any relation to them. 

There was cause given in St. Austin^s time to suspect that Aug. de 
many of the bones which were carried about by monks, were 
none of their bones, but impostures, which very much shakes 
the credit of the miracles wrought by them, since we have no 
reason to think that God would support such impostures with 
miracles ; as, on the other hand, there is no reason to think 
that false relics would have passed upon the world, if miracles 
had been believed to accompany true ones, unless they had 
their miracles likewise to attest their value : so let this matter 
be turned which way it may, the credit both of reUcs, and of 
the miracles wrought by them, is not a little shaken by it. But 
in the following ages we have more than presumptions, that 
there was much of this false coin that went abroad in the 
world. It was not possible to distinguish the false from the 
true. The freshness of colour and smell, so often boasted, 
might have been easily managed by art; the varieties of those 
relics, the different methods of discovering them, the shinings 
that were said to be about their tombs, with the smells that 
broke out of them, the many apparitions that accompanied 
them, and the signal cures that were wrought by them, as they 
grew to fiU the world with many volumes of legends, many 
more lying yet in the manuscripts in many churches, than 
have been published : all these, I say, carry in them such 
characters of fraud and imposture on the one hand, and of 
cruelty and superstition on the other; so much craft, and so 
much foUy, that they had their full effect upon the world, 
even in contradiction to the clearest evidence possible; the 
same saints having more bodies and heads than one, in dif- 
ferent places, and yet aU equally celebrated with miracles. A 
great profusion of wealth and pomp was laid out in honouring 
them, new devotions were stiU invented for them : and though 
these things are too palpably false to be put upon us now, in 
ages of more light, where every thing will not go down be- 
cause it is confidently affirmed ; yet as we know how great a 
part of the devotion of the Latin church this continued to be 
for many ages before the Reformation, so the same trade is still 

Y 



322 



AN KXPOSIflO^f 



A U T. carried on^ where the same ignorance^ ^fid' thT i^i^me 3.uie^ti- 
X-^II- tion, does still continue. ' ^J^'^^ sirfe piw 

I come now to consider the last head of this Article^ which 
is the invocation of saints^* of which much has been alread^f 
said by an anticipation : for there is that connection betweeii 
the worship of relics and the invocation of saints, that the 
treating of the one does very naturally carry one to say some- 
' what of the other. It is very evident that saints were not in- 
vocated in the Old Testament. God being called so oft tli^gf, 
God of Abraham, Isaac, and Jacob, seems to give a mucti 
better warrant for it, than any thing that can be alleged frorii 
the New Testament. Moses was their lawgiver, and their 
mediator and intercessor with God ; and his intercession, as it 
had been very effectual for them, so it had shewed itself in a very 
extraordinary instance of his desiring that his name might be 

'^^^^'oo ^ blotted out of the book which he had written,^ rather thafc 
the people should perish ; when God had oifered to him, that' 

,L ,iit (ul ; he would raise up a new nation to himself, out of his posterity" 
God had also made promises to that nation by him : so that^ 
it might be natural enough, considering the genius of supei*-^ 
stition, for the Jews to have called to him in their miseries, to 
obtain the performance of those promises made by him to 
them. We may upon this refer the matter to every maii^^'^ 
judgment, whether Abraham and Moses might not have heett' 
much more reasonably in vocated by the Jews according to^ 
what we find in the Old Testament, than any saint can be 
under the New : yet we are sure they were not prayed to. 
Elijah's going up to heaven in so miraculous a manner, might 
also have been thought a good reason for any to have prayed" 
to him : but nothing of that kind was then practised. The^ ' 
understood prayer to be a part of that worship which they^^ 
owed to God only : go that the praying to any other, had beef(l 
to a certain degree the having another God before, or bef-^^'^ 
sides the true Jehovah. They never prayed to any othiefj^ 
they called upon him, and made mention of no other: the* 

Psil. L 15. rule was without exception, ^ Call upon me in the time 

trouble; I will hear thee, and thou shalt glorify me.' Upoii^ 
this point there is no dispute. ^ - 

* The council of Trent thus decreed in the matter of saint- worship : — ' Mandat : 
sancta synodus omnibus episcopis, et cseteris docendi munus curamque sustinenti- 
bus, ut, juxta catholicse et apostolicse ecclesise usum, a primsevis Christianas religi- 
onis temporibus receptum, sanctorumque patrum consensionem, et sacrorum con-' 
ciliorura decreta, in primis de sanctorum interccssione, invocatione, reliquiaruHjirf 
honore, et legitimo imaginum usu, fideles diligenter instruant, docentes eos, sanctos, 
una cum Christo regnantes, orationes suas pro hominibus Deo offerre, bonum atque 
utile esse suppliciter eos invocare ; et ob beneficia impetranda a Deo per Filium 
ejus Jesum Christum, Dominum nostrum qui solus noster redemptor et salvator est, 
ad eorum orationes, opera, auxilium confugere : illos vero qui negant sanctos 
aiterna felicitate in coelo fruentes, invocandos esse ; aut qui asserunt, vel illos pro 
liominibus non orare, vel eorum, ut pro nobis etiam singulis orent, invocationem 
esse idololatriam ; vel pugnare cum verbo Dei, adversarique honori unius mediatcwif ;] 
Dei et hominum Jesu Christi ; vel stultum esse, in ccelo regnantibas voce v^l ,, 
mente supplicare; impie sentire.' 5essio XXV [Ed.] i'"' 



THE XXXIX ARTICLES. 523 

111 the New Testament we see the same metliod followed^ A U r. 
with this only exception, that Jesus Christ is proposed as our XXIL 
Mediator ; and that not only in the point of redemption, 
which is not denied by those of the church of Rome, but even 
in the point of intercession ; for when St. Paul is treating con- 
cerning the prayers and supplications that are to be offered 
' for all men,^ he concludes that direction in these words : 
^ For there is one God and one Mediator between God and 1 Tim. ii. 5. 
man, the man Christ Jesus.^ We think the silence of the New 
Testament might be a sufficient argument for this : but these 
words go further, and imply a prohibition to address our 
prayers to God by any other mediator. All the directions 
that are given us of trusting in God, and praying to him, are 
upon the matter prohibitions of trusting to any other, or of 
calhng on any other. Invocation and faith are joined to- 
gether: ^ How shall they call on him in whom they have not Rom.x.14. 
believed So that we ought only to pray to God, and to 
Christ, according to those words, ' Ye believe in God, believe Johnxiv.i. 
also in me.^ We do also know that it was a part of heathenish 
idolatry to invocate either demons or departed men, whom 
they considered as good beings subordinate to the Divine 
Essence, and employed by God in the government of the 
world; and they had almost the same speculations about 
them, that have been since introduced into the church, con- 
cerning angels and saints. In the condemning all idolatry, 
no reserve is made in scripture for this, as being faulty, only 
because it was apphed wrong ; or that it might be set right, 
when directed better. On the contrary, when some men, 
under the pretence of ^humility and of will-worship,^ did. Col. ii. 18. 
according to the Platonic notions, offer to bring in the ^wor- ; 
ship of angels^ into the church of Colosse, pretending, as is ; 
probable, that those spirits who were employed by God in 3 
the ministry of the gospel, ought, in gratitude for that service^ i 
and out of respect to their dignity, to be w^orshipped : St. . 5 
Paul condemns all this, without any reserves made for lower 
degrees of worship ; he charges the Christians to ^ beware of Ver. 8, 9, i 
that vain philosophy,^ and not to be deceived by those shows. 
of humility, or the speculations of men, who pretended to • 
explain that which they did not know, as ^ intruding into 
things w^hich they had not seen, vainly puffed up by their 
fleshly mind.^ If any degrees of invocating saints or angels 
had been consistent mth the Christian religion, this was the 
proper place of declaring them : but the condemning that 
matter so absolutely, looks as a very express prohibition of all ^ 
sort of worship to angels. And w^hen St. John fell dowm to '^ 
worship the angel, that had made him such glorious disco- 
veries upon two several occasions, the answer he had was, 
' See thou do it not : worship God : I am thy fellow-servant.^ I^ev. xix. 
It is probable enough that St. John might imagine, that the ^^J^^ 
angel, who had made such discoveries to him, w^as Jesus 9. 

Y 2 



324 



AN EXPOSITION OF 



ART. Christ : but the answer plainly shews, that no sort of worship 
ought to be offered to angels, nor to any but God. The 
reason given excludes all sorts of worship, for that cannot 
among fellow-servants. 

As angels are thus forbid to be worshipped, so no mention 
is made of worshipping or invocating any saints that had died 
for the faith, such as St. Stephen and St. James. In the 
Heb.xm.7. Epistle to the Hebrews, they are required to ^remember them 
which had the rule over them, and to follow their faith but 
not a word of praying to them. So that if either the silence 
of the scriptures on this head, or if plain declarations to the 
contrary, could decide this matter, the controversy would soon 
be at an end. Christ is always proposed to us as the only 
person by whom we come unto God: and when St. Paul 
speaks against the worshipping of angels, he sets Christ out 
Col. ii. 9 in his glory in opposition to it. ^ For in him dwelleth all the 
10. fulness of the Godhead bodily ; and ye are complete in him, 
which is the head of all principality and power;' pursuing 
that reason in a great many particulars. 

From the scriptures, if we go to the first ages of Christianity, 
we find nothing that favours this, but a great deal to the con- 
trary. Irenseus disclaims the invocation of angels. The me- 
morable passage of the church of Smyrna, formerly cited, 
Clem. a full proof of their sense in this matter. Clemens Alexafi- 
Protrep. drinus and Tertullian do often mention the worship that was 
Tertui. given to God only by prayer : and so far were they at that 
Apol.c.i7. time from praying to saints, that they prayed for them, as was 
formerly explained : they thought they were not yet in the 
presence of God, so they could not pray to them as long as 
that opinion continued. That form of praying for them is' in 
the Apostolical Constitutions. In all that collection, whi& 
seems to be a work of the fourth or fifth century, there is not 
a word that intimates their praying to saints. In the council 
of Laodicea,* there is an express condemnation of those who 
invocated angels ;t this is called a secret idolatry, and a for- 
saking of our Lord Jesus Christ, The first apologists for 
Christianity do arraign the worship of demons, and of such 
had once lived on earth, in a style that shewed they did n^t 
apprehend that the argument could be turned against them, 
for their worshipping either angels or departed saints. When 
the Arian controversy arose, the invocation of Christ is urged 
by Athanasius, Basil, Cyril, and other fathers, as an evide^it 

* Con. Laod. c. 35. Just. Mart. Apol. 2. Iren. 1. 2. c. 35. Orig. con. Cels. l. S. 
Tert. de Orat. c. 1. Athanas. ad adelph. frat.et confess, cont. Arian. epist. Greg. 
Nazianz. in sanct. Lumin. Orat. orat. 30. Greg. Niss. in Basil, cont. Eunap. 
Basil. Horn, in sanct. Christ, generat. cont. Eunom. 1.4. Epiph. Haere&.^64. 69, 
78, 79. Theod. de Hser. Fabul. 1. 5. c. 3. Chrysost. de Trinit. 

f Council of Laodicea, c. 25. s. 24. decreed, 'That we ought not to forsake 
the church of God, and depart aside, and invocate angels {AyytXov? hofjt.ocZ,iny, and 
make meetings, which are things forbidden : if any man therefore be found to give 
himself to this privy idolatry, let him be accursed, because he hath forsaken our Lord 
Jesus Christ the Son of God, and betaken himself to idolatry.' — [Ep.] 



THE XXXIX ARTICLES. 



325 



argument that he was neither made nor created ; since they art. 
did not pray to angels, or any other creatures ; from whence XXII. 

they concluded that Christ was God. These are convincing 

proofs of the doctrine of the three first, and of a good part of 
the fourth century. 

It is true, as was confessed upon the former head, they be- 
gan ^vith martyrs in the end of the fourth century. They 
fancied they heard those that called to them ; and upon that 
it was no wonder if they invocated them, and so private 
prayers to them began. But, as appears both by the Consti- 
tutions, and several of the writers of that time, the pubHc 
offices were yet preserved pure. St. Austin says plainly. The -^"g- con. 
Gentiles hiiilt temples, raised altars, ordained priests, c.^29 con* 
offered sacrifices to their gods : but we do not erect temples to Max. 1.13. 
our martyrs, as if they were gods; but memories as to dead ^- ^' 
men, whose spirits live with God ; nor do we erect altars, upon cilf 'pej 
which we sacrifice to martyrs; but to one God only do we offer, 1.22. c. 10. 
to the God o/" martyrs, and our God; at which sacrifice ^Aez^ 8. c. 27. 
are named in their place and order, as men of God, who in con- 
fessing him have overcome the world; hut they are not invo- 
cated by the priest that sacrifices. It seems the form of pray- 
ing for the saints mentioned in the Constitutions, was not 
used in the churches of Afric in St. Austin^s time : he says 
very positively, that they did not pray for them, but did 
praise God for them : and he says in express words. Let not ^"^'^^i 
the worship of dead men be any part of our religion ; they c. 55. ' 
ought so to be honoured, that we may imitate them, but not wor- 
shipped. God was indeed prayed to, in the fifth century, to 
hear the intercession of the saints and martyrs ; but there is 
a great dilBference between praying to God to favour us on 
their account, and praying immediately to them to hear us. 

The praying to them imports either their being every 
where, or their knowing all things; and as it is a blasphe- 
mous piece of idolatry to ascribe that to them without a 
divine communication ; so it is a great presumption in any 
man to fancy that they may be prayed to, and to build so 
many parts of worship upon it, barely upon some probabili- 
ties and inferences, without an express revelation about it. 
For the saints may be perfectly happy in the enjoyment of 
God without seeing all things in him; nor have we any rea- 
l^son to carry that further than the scripture has done. But as 
the invocating of martyrs grew from a calling to them at 
their memories, to a general calling to them in all places; 
^^so from the invocating martyrs, they went on to pray to 
£ mother saints; yet that was at first ventured on doubtfully, 
and only in funeral orations ; where an address to the dead 
person to pray for those that were then honouring his me- 
yvTjnory, might, perhaps, come in as a figure of pompous elo- 
^'• quence ; in which Nazianzen, one of the first that uses it, did 
often give himself a very great compass ; yet he and others 



A R T. soften such figures with thiSj If there t$ any sense or ^nofi^ 
ledge of what we do below, j ■ 

From prayers to God to receive the intercessions of marr 
tyrs and saints, it came in later ages to be usual to hayes 
litanies to them, and to pray immediately to them; but al: 
first this was only a desire to them to pray for those who did 
thus invocate them, Ora pro nobis. But so impossible is it 
to restrain superstition, when it has once got head, and has 
prevailed, that in conclusion all things that were asked either 
of God or Christ, came to be asked from the saints in the 
same humility both of gesture and expression; in which. if 
there was any difference made, it seemed to be rather on the 
side of the blessed Virgin and the saints, as appears by the 
ten Aye's for one Pater, and that humble prostration in which 
all fall down every day to worship her : the prayer used con- 
stantly to her, Maria, Mater gratice, Mater misericordice, tu 
nos ab hoste protege, et hora mortis suscipe, is an immediate 
acknowledgment of her as the giver of these things ; such are, 
Solve vincla reis,profer lumen ccecis; with many others of that 
nature. The collection of these swells to a huge bulk. Jure 
Matris impera Redemptori, is an allowed address to her ; not 
to mention an infinity of most scandalous ones, that are not 
only tolerated, but encouraged, in that church.* Altars are 
consecrated to her honour, and to the honour of other saints ; 
but which is more, the sacrifice of the mass is offered up to 
her honour, and to the honour of the saints : and in the form 
of absolution, the pardon of sins, the increase of grace, and 
eternal life, are prayed for to the penitent by the virtue of 
the passion of Christ, and the merits of the blessed Virgin, and 
of all the saints. The pardon of sins and eternal life are also 
prayed for from angels, Angelorum concio sacra, archangelorum 
turma inclyta, nostra diluant jam peccata, prcestando mpernam 

* We pass over the many proofs of this idolatry to be found in the writings of 
papal divines ; and extract two from works in which we are sure to find the most 
moderate statement of their views on this subject. The first, from the catechism 
of the council of Trent, is as follows : — 

' Jure autem sancta Dei ecclesia huic gratiarum actioni preces etiam et implora- 
tionem sanctissimse Dei Matris adjunxit, qua pie atque suppliciter ad eam confugere- 
mus, ut nobis peccatoribus sua intercessione conciliaret Deum, bonaque tum ad 
banc, tum ad seternara vitam necessaria impetraret. Ergo nos exules, filii Evae, 
qui banc lacrymarum vallem incolimus, assidue misericordise matrem, ac fidelis 
populi advocatam invocare debemus, ut oret pro nobis peccatoribus, ab eaque hac 
prece opem et auxilium implorare, cujus et prsestantissima merita apud Deum 
esse, et summam voluntatem juvandi humanum genus, nemo, nisi impie et nefarie, 
dubitare potest.' Cat. ad Paroch. De oratione. Pro qiiibus orandum sit. The 
other is given according to the translation in the Laity's Directory (a popish pub- 
lication) for the year 1833. ' We select for the date of our letter this most joyful 
day on which we celebrate the solemn festival of the most blessed Virgin's triumph- 
ant assumption into heaven, that she who has been through every great calamity 
our patroness and protectress, may watch over us writing to you, and lead our 
mind by her heavenly influence to those counsels which may prove most salutary to 

Christ's flock But that all may have a 

successful and happy issue, let us raise our eyes to the most blessed Virghi Mary, 
who alone destroys heresies, who is our greatest, hope, yea, the entire, ground of 
our hope.' Encyclical Letter of pope Gregory XVI. (the present pontiff.) — [Ed."] 



THE XXXIX ARTICLES. 



327 



cce/e gloriam. Many strains of this kind are to be found in ART. 
the hymns and other pubhc offices of that church : and 
though in the late corrections of their offices^ some of the 
more scandalous are left out^ yet those here cited, with a 
great many more to the same purpose, are still preserved. 
And the council of Trent did plainly intend to connive at all 
these tilings, for they did not restrain the invocation of saints, 
only to be an address to them to pray for us, which is the 
common disguise with which they study to cover this matter: 
but by the decree of the council, the flying to their help and 
assistance, as well as to their intercession, is encouraged; 
which shews that the council Avould not limit this part of 
their devotion to a bare Or a pro nobis ; that might have 
seemed flat and low, and so it might have discouraged it; 
therefore they made use of words that will go as far as super- 
stition can carry them. So that if the invocating them, if the 
making vows to them, the dedicating themselves to them ; if 
the flying to them in all distresses, in the same acts, and in 
the same words, that the scriptures teach us to fly to God 
with ; and if all the studied honours of processions and other 
pompous rites towards their images, that are invented to do 
them honour; if, I say, all this does amount to idolatry, then 
we are sure they are guilty of it; since they honour the crea- Rom. i. 25. 
ture not only besides, but (in the full extent of that phrase) 
more than the Creator. 

And now let us see what is the foundation of all these de- 
votions, against which we bring arguments, that, to speak 
modestly of them, are certainly such that there should be 
matters of great weight in the other scale to balance them. 
Nothing is pretended from scripture, nor from any thing that 
is genuine, for above three hundred and fifty years after Christ. 
In a word, the practice of the church, since the end of the 
fourth century, and the authority of tradition, of popes and 
councils, must bear this burden. These are consequences that 
do not much afl'ect us ; for though we pay great respect to 
many great men that flourished in the fourth and fifth cen- 
turies, yet we cannot compare that age with the three that 
went before it. Those great men give us a sad account of the 
corruptions of that time, not only among the laity, but the 
clergy ; and their being so flexible in matters of faith, as 
they appeared to be in the whole course of the Arian contro- 
versy, gives us very just reason to suspect the practices of that 
age, in which the protection and encouragements that the 
church received from the first Christian emperors, were not 
improved to the best advantage. 

The justest abatement that we can offer for this corruption, 
which is too manifest to be either denied or justified, is this, 
they were then engaged with the heathens, and were much 
set on bringing them over to the Christian rehgion. In order 
to that it was very natural for them to think of all methods 



B28 



AN EXPOSITION OF 



ART. possible to accommodate Christianity to their taste. It wajs^ 
perhaps^ observed how far the apostles complied with tl^e 
Jews^ that they might gain them. St. Paul had said^ that tp 

1^21 ^22 ^^^^^ J^ws he became a Jew;' and ^to them that were without 
' law/ that is^ the Gentiles^ ^ as one without law ; that by aU 
means he might gain some.^ They might think that if th^ 
Jews^ who had abused the light of a revealed religion, who ha^ 
rejected and crucified the Messias^ and persecuted his foUower^^ 
and had in all respects corrupted both their doctrine and theii" 
morals, were waited on and complied with, in the observanci^ 
of that very law which was abrogated by the death of Christ, 
but was still insisted on by them as of perpetual obligation ; 
and yet that after the apostles had made a solemn decision in 
the matter, they continued to conform themselves to that law ; 
all this might be applied with some advantages to this matter* 
The Gentiles had nothing but the light of nature to govern 
them ; they might seem willing to become Christians, but they 
still despised the nakedness and simplicity of that religion. 
And it is reasonable enough to think that the emperors ancl 
other great men might in a political view, considering th'e 
vast strength of heathenism, press the bishops of those times 
to use all imaginable ways to adorn Christianity with such an 
exterior form of worship, as might" be most acceptable to then;t, 
and might most probably bring them over to it. . 

The Christians had long felt the weight of persecution froip 
them, and were, no doubt, much frightened with the danger of 
a relapse in Julian's time. It is natural to aU men to desire 
to be safe, and to weaken the numbers of their implacably 
enemies. In that state of things we do plainly see they began 
to comply in lesser matters : for whereas in the first ages the 
Christians were often reproached with this, that they had no 
temples, altars, sacrifices, nor priests, they changed their dialect 
in all those points r so we have reason to believe that this was 
carried further. The vulgar are more easily wrought upon in 
greater points of speculation, than in some small ritual matters; 
because they do not understand the one, and so are not much 
concerned about it i but the other is more sensible, and lies 
within their compass. We find some in Palestine kept images 
in their houses, as Eusebius tells us ; others began in Spain 
to light candles by daylight, and to paint the walls of their 
churches : and though these things were condemned by the 
council of EUiberis ; yet we see by what St. Jerome has cited 
out of Vigilantius, that the spirit of superstition did work 
strongly among them : we hear of none that writ against those 
abuses besides Vigilantius ; yet Jerome tells us, that many 
bishops were of the same mind with him, with whom he is so 
angry as to doubt, whether they deserved to be caUed bishops. 
Most of these abuses had also specious beginnings, and went 
on insensibly : where they made greater steps, we find an op- 

Epiph. position to them. Epiphanius is very severe upon the Colly- 

Haeres. 79. 



THE XXXIX ARTICLES. 329 



ridians, for their worshipping the blessed Virgin, And though ART. 
they did it by offering up a cake to her, yet if any will read 
all that he says against that superstition, they will clearly see, 
that no prayers were then offered up to her by the orthodox ; 'J?^fl 
and that he rejects the thought of it with indignation. But 
the respect paid the martyrs, and the opinion that they were 
still hovering about their tombs, might make the calling to 
them for their prayers, seem to be like one man^s desiring 
the prayers of other good men ; and when a thing of this kind 
is once begun, it naturally goes on. Of all this we see a par- 
ticular account in a discourse writ on purpose on this argument, 
of curing the affections and inclinations of the Greeks, by 
Theodoret, who may be justly reckoned among the greatest Theod. de 
men of antiquity, and in it he insists upon this particular of affect?]' 8 
proposing to them the saints and martyrs, instead of their gods, de Martyr! 
And there is no doubt to be made, but that they found the 
effects of this compliance ; many heathens were every day 
coming over to the Christian religion. And it might then 
perhaps be intended to lay those aside, when the heathens 
were once brought over. 

To all which this must be added, that the good men of that 
-time had not the spirit of prophecy, and could not foresee 
what progress this might make, and to what an excess it 
might grow ; they had nothing of that kind in their view : so 
fthat between charity and policy, between a desire to bring 
%ver multitudes to their faith, and ^n inclination to secure 
^€iemselves, it is not at all to be wondered at, by any who 
Considers all the circumstances of those ages, that these cor- 
*fliptions should have got into the church, and much less, 
-fiaving once got in, they should have gone on so fast, and be 
%rried so far. 

Thus I have offered all the considerations that arise from 
the state of things at that time, to shew how far we do still 
preserve the respect due to the fathers of those ages, even 
when we confess that they were men, and that something of 
human nature appeared in this piece of their conduct. This 
can be made no argument for later ages, who having no hea- 
thens among them, are under no temptations to comply with 
any of the parts of heathenism, to gain them. And now that 
the abuse of these matters is become so scandalous, and has 
spread itself so far, how much soever we may excuse those 
ages, in which we discern the first beginnings, and as it were 
the small heads, of that which has since overflowed Christen- 
dom ; yet we can by no means bear even with those begin- 
nings, which have had such dismal effects ; and therefore we 
have reduced the worship of God to the simplicity of the 
scripture times, and of the first three centuries : and for the 
fourth, we reverence it so much on other accounts, that for 
the sake of these we are unwiUing to reflect too much on 
-¥this. 



8S0 



AN EXPOSITI0|i §f? f 



A R T. Anotlier consideration urged for the invocation of saints is, 
XXII. that, they seeing God^ we have reason to beheve that they 
' see in him, if not all things, yet at least all the concerns of 
the church, of which they are still parts ; and they being in 
a most perfect state of charity, they must certainly love thi^ 
souls of their brethren here below : so that if saints on earth, 
whose charity is not yet perfect, do pray for one another here 
on earth, they in that state of perfection do certainly pray 
most fervently for them. And as we here on earth do desire 
the prayers of others, it may be as reasonable and much more 
useful to have recourse to their prayers, who are both in a 
higher state of favour with God, and have a more exalted cha- 
rity : by which their intercessions will be both more earnest, 
and more prevalent. They think also that this honour paid 
the saints, is an honour done to God, who is glorified in 
them : and since he is the acknowledged fountain of all, 
they think that all the worship offered to them ends and ter- 
minates in God. They think, as princes are come at by tli^ 
means of those that are in favour with them ; so we ought to 
come to God by the intercession of the saints : that all our 
prayers to them are to be understood to amount to no more 
than a desire to them, to intercede for us ; and finally, that 
the offering of sacrifice is an act of worship, that can indeed 
be made only to God, but that all other acts of devotion and 
respect may be given to the saints : and the sublimest degrees 
of them may be offered to the blessed Virgin, as the mother 
of Christ, in a peculiar rank by herself. For they range the 
order of worship into latria, that is due only to God ; hyper- 
dulia, that belongs to the blessed Virgin ; and dulia^ tli^t 
longs to the other saints. rrfijQ sdT 

It were easy to retort all this, by putting it into the nioutn 
of a heathen ; and shewing how well it would fit all thosii 
parts of worship, that they offered to demons or intelligei^l 
spirits, and to deified men among them. This is obviou^ 
enough, to such as have read what the first apologists for 
Christianity have writ upon those heads. But to take this to 
pieces; we have no reason to beheve that the saints see all 
the concerns of the church. God can make them perfectl;^ 
happy without this ; and if we think the seeing them is a ne|- 
cessary ingredient of perfect happiness, we must from thence 
conclude, that they do also see the whole chain of Provif 
dence : otherwise they may seem to be in some suspense, 
which, according to our notions, is not consistent with perfect 
happiness. For if they see the persecutions of the church, 
and the miseries of Christians, without seeing on to the end, 
in what all that will issue, this seems to be a stop to their 
entire joy. And if they see the final issue, and know what 
God is to do, then we cannot imagine that they can intercede 
against it, or indeed for it. To us, who know not the hidden 
counsels of God, prayer is necessary and commanded: but it 



Tttte XXXIX i^RTIGLES. 



m 



^^e?A§^ncl6hSii^feht Mdtli a state in which all these events are A R T: 
known. This which they lay for the foundation of prayers to XXll. 
saints^ is a thing concerning which God has revealed nothing 
to us, and in which we can have no certainty. God has com- 
manded us to pray for one another, to join our prayers to- 
gether, and we have clear warrants for desiring the interces- 
sion of others. It is a high act of charity, and a great instance 
of the mutual love that ought to be among Christians : it is a 
part of the comnaunion of the saints : and as they do cer- 
tainly know, that those, whose assistance they desire, under- 
stand their wants when they signify them to them ; so they 
are sure that God has commanded this mutual praying One 
for another. It is a strange thing therefore to argue from 
what God has commanded, and which may have many good 
Effects, and can have no bad one, to that which he has 
not commanded ; on the contrary, against which there 
are many plain intimations in scripture, and which may 
have many bad effects, and we are not sure that it can have 
any one that is good. Beside, that the solemnity of devotion 
^tid prayer is a thing very different from our desiring the 
^tayers of such as are alive ; the one is as visibly an act of 
r^li gious worship, as the other is not. God has called himself 
^ a jealous God, that will not give his glory to another.^ And Isa. xlii.8. 
through the whole scripture, prayer is represented as a main 
part of the service due to him ; and as that in which he takes Ps. cxli. 2. 
the most pleasure. It is a sacrifice, and is so called: ^i^d p^^j^'^^'^* 
every other sacrifice can only be accepted of God, as it is ac- * 
companied with the internal acts of prayers and praises ; which 
are the spiritual sacrifices with which God is well pleased. 
The only thing, which the church of Rome reserves to God, 
proves to be the sacrifice of the mass : which, as shall appear 
Upon another Article, is a sacrifice that they have invented, 
but which is no where commanded by God ; so that if this 
is well made out, there will be nothing reserved to God to be 
the act of their latria : though it is not to be fargotten, that 
even the Virgin and the saints have a share in that sacrifice. 
' The excusing this, from the addresses made to princes by 
ihose that are in favour with them, is as bad as the thing 
itself ; it gives us a low idea of God, and of Christ, and of that 
goodness and mercy, that is so often declared to be infinite, as 
if he were to be addressed to by those about him, and might 
not be come to without an interposition : whereas the scrip- 
tures speak always of God, as a hearer of prayer, and as ready 
to accept of and answer the prayers of his people : to seek to 
other assistances, looks as if the mercies of God were not 
infinite, or the intercessions of Christ were not of infinite 
efiicacy. This is a corrupting of the main design of the gos- 
pel, which is to draw our affections wholly to God, to free us 
from all low notions of him, and from every thing that may 
inchne us to idolatry and superstition. 



332 ^^'^jptai ' tetPosltiON W 



Thus I have gone through all the heads contained in this 
Article. It seemed necessary to explain these with a due 
copiousness ; they being not only points of speculation, in 
which errors are not always so dangerous, but practical things, 
which enter into the worship of God, and that run through it. 
And certainly it is the will of God, that we should preserve it 
pure, from being corrupted with heathenish or idolatrous 
practices. It seems to be the chief end of revealed rehgion 
to deliver the world from idolatry ; a great part of the Mo- 
saical law did consist of rites of which we can give no other 
account, that is so like to be true, as, that they were fences 
and hedges_, that were intended to keep that nation in the 
greatest opposition, and at the utmost distance possible from 
idolatry : we cannot therefore think that in the Christian re- 
ligion, in which we are carried to higher notions of God, and 
to a more spiritual way of worshipping him, there should 
be such an approach to some of the worst pieces of Gentilism, 
that it seems to be outdone by Christians in some of its most 
scandalous parts ; such as the worship of subordinate gods, 
and of images. These are the chief grounds upon which we 
separate from the Roman communion ; since we cannot have 
feUowship with them, unless we will join in those acts, which 
we look on as direct violations of the First and Second Com- 
mandments. God is a jealous God, and therefore we must 
rather venture on their wrath, how burning soever it may be, 
than on his, who is a C07isuming fire* 

'^o gnomi5 . ml gji 



ill 89/lO'fiijiO 



ARTICLE XXmi J'^lJ 
Of Ministering in the Congregation. 

^ft not TaluftiX for an^ JJflan to tafee upon j^im ti)t (©(Set of public 
3Prfad;{ng; or 0iimUmnQ t^t ^acramentjS in tl)t Consrcsation, 
before i)t ht lalDfulb calletf antJ iSmtto ejrerute tf)t j^ame. ^nlr 
t^o^e toe ougijt to )iitrse latoftilb calletf mtS iSent, ioi^fdj be ci)o5eu 
antr calletr to ti)t5 SiZHorfe bp p[en,to5o l^abe public ^utljoritj) giben 
unto t!)em, m tf)e Congregation, to call antf ^mti Pltni^ter^ into 
tl;e %ovti'i Tirineijartf.* 

We have two particulars fixed in this Article: the first is 
against any that shall assume to themselves, without a lawful 
vocation, the authority of dispensing the things of God : the 
^ second is, the defining, in very general words, what it is that 
^ makes a lawful call. As to the first, it will bear no great diffi- 
culty: we see in the old dispensation, that the family, the age, 
and the qualifications, of those that might serve in the priest- 
hood, are very particularly set forth. In the New Testament 
our Lord called the twelve apostles, and sent them out: he 
also sent out upon another occasion seventy disciples: and 
before he left his apostles, he told them, that ^ as his Father john xx. 
had sent him, so he sent them :' which seems to import, that 21. 
as he was sent into the world with this, among other powers, 
that he might send others in his name; so he likewise empow- 
ered them to do the same: and when they went planting 
churches, as they took some to be companions of labour with 
themselves, so they appointed others over the particular 
churches in which they fixed them : such were Epaphras, or 
Epaphroditus at Colosse, Timothy at Ephesus, and Titus in 
Crete. To them the apostles gave authority : otherwise it was 
a needless thing to write so many directions to them, in order 
to their conduct. They had the depositum of the faith, with 2 Tim. i. 
which they were chiefly intrusted : concerning the succession 13. 
in which that was to be continued, we have these words of St. 
Paul : ^The things which thou hast heard of me, among many 2Tim.ii.2. 
witnesses, the same commit thou to faithful men, who shall be 
able to teach others also.^ To them directions are given, con- 
cerning all the different parts of their worship ; ' supplications, 1 Tim.ii. i, 
prayers, intercessions, and giving of thanks:' and also the keep- 2,3.ii.i2. 

* On the question of Holy Orders, the reader should examine Mason's celebrated 
work in Defence of the Orders of the Church of England. He will also find this 
point ably discussed in a work undertaken by the command of archbishop Sancroft, 
and entitled, ' A Legacy to the Church of England, vindicating her orders from the 
objections of Papists and Dissenters,' by the Rev. Luke Milbourn. This subject is 
also handled by bishop Taylor in his ' Episcopacy Asserted.' — [Ed.] 



334 



AN EXPOSITION OF 



ART. ing up the decency of the worship, and the not suffering 
^^f^^- women to teach ; like the women priests among the heathens^ 
" who were believed to be filled with a Bacchic fury. To them 
are directed all the qualifications of such as might be made 
1 Tim. iii. either bishops or deacons : they were to examine them accordt,.; 

ing to these, and either to receive or reject them. All this 
1 Tim. iii ^^^^ directed to Timothy, that he might know how he ought to 
15. ^ behave himself in the house of God.^ He had authority giv^n», . 
1 Tim.v.i, him to rebuke and intreat, to honour and to censure. He w^s 
22. ' ' to order what widows might be received into the number, and 
who should be refused. He was to receive accusations against 
elders, or presbyters, according to directed methods, and was 
either to censure some, or to lay hands on others, as should 
agree with the rules that were set him ; and in conclusion, he 

1 Tim. vi. is very solemnly charged, to ^keep that which was committed to, , 
2(^j-„ his trust.' He is required rightly to ^ divide the word of trutli^^^^ 
15. to ^preach the word,' to *be instant in season and out of season^^j^^ 

2 Tim. iv. to reprove, rebuke, and exhort, and to do the work of an evanr< . 
gelist, and to make full proof of his ministr5\' Some of the 



i \u 1. 5,9. g^j^g things are charged upon Titus, whom St. Paul had left in 

C^.TP'ic^ fn ^ cpf in r»rrlpv flif> fTiinrra flmf wravc^ inrcin fin rr unrl fr» ^'"'—ri 



Crete, to ' set in order the things that were wanting, and to or- 
dain elders in every city several of the characters by whicK 
he was to try them are also set down : he is charged to rebuke 
the people sharply, and to speak the things that became sound 
doctrine: he is instructed concerning the doctrines which he 
was to teach, and those which he was to avoid ; and also how to 
Tit. iii. 10. censure an heretic: he was to admonish him twice; and if ,. 

that did not prevail, he was to reject him, by some publi^.^ 
censure. i^T 

These rules given to Timothy and Titus do plainly import^ 
that there was to be an authority in the church, and that nioij^i 
man was to assume this authority to himself; according to that^i j 
maxim, that seems to be founded on the light of nature, as ^ 
well as it is set down in scripture, as a standing rule agreed tp^,/j 
Heb. V. 4. in all times and places : ^ no man taketh this honour to hiinf;^^,^^ 

self, but he that is called of God, as was Aaron.' " 
Rom.^xii. jSt. Paul, in his Epistles to the Romans and Corinthians, diS^^ 
I'cor. 'xii. I'sckon up the several orders and functions that God had s^t^^ 
28. in his church, and in his Epistle to the Ephesians he shew;4,f| 
j^j'^^-^^-^i' that these were not transient but lasting constitutions*; for , 
' ' * there, as he reckons the apostles, prophets, evangelists, pastors... 
and teachers, as the gifts which Christ at his ascension had 
given to men ; so he tells the ends for which they were given-^s 
'^for the perfecting the saints,' (by perfecting seems to be meant 
the initiating them by holy mysteries, rather than the com-,^, 
pacting or putting them in joint; for as that is the propei"^!^ 
signification of the word, so it being set first, the other thing|^^^ 
that come after it make that the strict sense of perfecting ^ry 
that is, completing does not so well agree with the period^V, ^ 



^ for the work of the ministry,' (the whole ^ ^cclesiastiqal 



(9 .iii .mi'r 1 



sticre^'^^^s,f ' fof iffie edi^jmig tlie body of CKrist/^(to art. 
which instructing^ exhorting, comforting^ and all the other 
parts of preaching may well be reduced ;) and then the duration 
of these gifts is defined^ ^ Till we all come in the unity of the/^ 
faith, and of the knowledge of the Son of God^ unto a perfect 
man/ This seems to import the whole state of this life. 

We cannot think that all this belonged only to the infancy. 'J Jij.miTf 
of the church, and that it was to be laid aside by her when she . . 
was further advanced ; for when we consider that in the begin- \er\?i .8 
nings of Christianity there was so liberal an eifusion of the 
Holy Spirit poured out upon such great numbers, who had 
very extraordinary credentials, miracles^ and the gift of tongues, ^ 
to prove their mission ; it does not seem so necessary in such ' 
a time, or rather for the sake of such a time only, to have ' 
settled those functions in the church, and that the apostles ~ "'^^ °^"'\)g 
should have ordained elders in every church/ Those extra- Acts xji^.; ! s 
ordinary gifts that were then, without any authoritative 
settlement, might have served in that time to have procured ""''J o 
to men so qualified all due regards. We have therefore much 'v 
better reason to conclude, that this was settled at that time_, ' 
chiefly with respect to the following ages, which as they were 
to fall off from that zeal and purity that did then reign among ^ 
them, so they would need rule and government to maintain 
the iinity of the church, and the order of sacred things. And , 
for that reason chiefly we may conclude, that the apostles 
settled order and government in the church, not so much for '^^ ..^ 
the age in which they themselves lived, as once to establish;^" '"^ 
and give credit to constitutions, that they foresaw would be ^ 
yet more necessary to the succeeding ages. ^ 

This is confirmed by that which is in the Epistle to the He- , 
brews, both concerning those ^who had ruled over them,^ and Reb. 
those who were then their guides. St. Peter gives directions 7- 
to the elders of the churches to whom he writ, how they ought 2 ^3^' 
both to ^ feed and govern the flock and his charging them 
not to do it out of covetousness, or with ambition, insinuates 
that either some were beginning to do so, or that, in a spirit " 
of prophecy, he foresaw that some might fall under such cor- ) 
ruptions. This is hint enough to teach us, that, though such _ ' 
things should happen, they could furnish no argument against , . J ^ r ,/j 
the function. Abuses ought to be corrected, but upon that 
pretence the function ought not to be taken away. 

If from the scriptures we go to the first writings of 
Christians, we find that the main subject of St. Clemens^ and ' 
St. Ignatius' Epistles is to keep the churches in order and 
union, in subjection to their pastors_, and in the due subordi- 
nation of all the members of the body one to another. After : 
the first age the thing grows too clear to need any further proof. 
The argument for this from the standing rules of order, of de- 
cency, of the authority in which the holy things ought to be 
maintained, and the care that must be taken to repress vanity 



xni. 



n 



336 



AN EXPOSITION OF 



ART. and insolence^ and all the extravagancies of light and ungo- 
verned fancies, is very clear. For if every man may assume 
authority to preach and perform holy functions, it is certain 
reUgion must fall into disorder, and under contempt. Hot- 
headed men of warm fancies and voluble tongues, with very 
little knowledge and discretion, would be apt to thrust them- 
selves on to the teaching and governing others, if they them- 
selves were under no government. This would soon make 
the public service of God to be loathed, and break and dissolve 
the whole body. 

A few men of liveUer thoughts, that begin to set on foot such 
ways, might for some time maintain a little credit ; yet so many 
others would follow in at that breach which they had once 
made on public order, that it could not be possible to keep the 
society of Christians under any method, if this were once al- 
lowed. And therefore those who in their heart hate the Christian 
religion, and desire to see it fall under a more general contempt, 
know well what they do, when they encourage all those en- 
thusiasts that destroy order ; hoping, by the credit which their 
outward appearances may give them, to compass that which 
the others know themselves to be too obnoxious to hope that 
they can ever have credit enough to persuade the world to. 
Whereas those poor deluded men do not see what properties 
the others make of them. The morals of infidels shew that 
they hate all religions equally, or with this difference, that the 
stricter any are, they must hate them the more ; the root of 
their quarrel being at all reMgion and virtue. And it is certain, 
as it is that which those who drive it on see well, and therefore 
they drive it on, that if once the public order and national 
constitution of a church is dissolved, the strength and power, 
as well as the order and beauty, of all religion will soon go 
after it : for, humanly speaking, it cannot subsist without it. 

I come in the next place to consider the second part of this 
Article, which is the definition here given of those that are 
lawfully called and sent : this is put in very general words, far 
from that magisterial stiffness in which some have taken upon 
them to dictate in this matter. The Article does not resolve 
this into any particular constitution, but leaves the matter 
open and at large for such accidents as had happened, and 
such as might still happen. They who drew it had the state 
of the several churches before their eyes, that had been dif- 
ferently reformed ; and although their own had been less 
forced to go out of the beaten path than any other, yet they 
knew that aU things among themselves had not gone accord- 
ing to those rules that ought to be sacred in regular times ; 
necessity has no law, and is a law to itself. 

This is the difference between those things that are the 
means of salvation, and the precepts that are only necessary, 
because they are commanded. Those things which are the 
means, such as faith, repentance, and new obedience, are in- 



THE tXtlX ARTICLES. 



SS7 



dispensable; they oblige all men> and at all times alike; be- art. 
cause they have a natural influence on us^ to make us fit and 
capable subjects of the mercy of God : but such things as are 
necessary only by virtue of a command of God^ and not by 
virtue of any real efficiency which they have to reform our 
natures^ do indeed oblige us to seek for them, and to use all 
our endeavours to have them. But as they of themselves are 
not necessary in the same order with the first, so much less 
are all those methods necessary in which we may come at the 
regular use of them. This distinction shall be more fully en- 
larged on when the sacraments are treated of. But to the 
matter in hand. That which is simply necessary as a mean 
'to preserve the order and union of the body of Christians, and 
to maintain the reverence due to holy things, is, that no man 
enter upon any part of the holy ministry, without he be 
chosen and called to it by such as have an authority so to 
do; that, I say, is fixed by the Article: but men are left 
more at liberty as to their thoughts concerning the subject of 
this lawful authority. 

That which we believe to be lawful authority, is that rule 
which the body of the pastors, or bishops and clergy of a 
church, shall settle, being met in a body under the due respect 
to the powers that God shall set over them: rules thus made, 
being in nothing contrary to the word of God, and duly exe- 
cuted by the particular persons to whom that care belongs, 
are certainly the lawful authority. Those are the pastors of 
the church, to whom the care and watching over the souls of 
the people is committed; and the prince, or supreme power, 
comprehends virtually the whole body of the people in him : 
since, according to the constitution of the civil government, 
the wills of the people are understood to be concluded by the 
supreme, and such as are the subject of the legislative autho- 
rity. When a church is in a state of persecution under those 
who have the civil authority over her, then the people, who 
receive the faith, and give both protection and encouragement 
to those that labour over them, are to be considered as the 
body that is governed by them. The natural eficct of such a 
state of things, is to satisfy the people in all that is done, to 
carry along their consent with it, and to consult much with 
them in it. This does not only arise out of a necessary re- 
gard to their present circumstances, but from the rules given 
in the gospel, of not ruling as the kings of the several nations 
did ; nor lording it, or carrying it with a high authority over 
God's heritage (which may be also rendered over their several 
lots or portions). But when the church is under the protec- 
tion of a Christian magistrate, then he comes to be in the stead 
of the whole people ; for they are concluded in and by him ; 
he gives the protection and encouragement, and therefore 
great regard is due to him, in the exercise of his lawful autho- 
rity, in which he has a great share, as shall be explained in its 

z 



338 



AN EXPOSITION OF 



A R T. proper place. Here, then, we think this authori);^, is iri^^J^ 
XXIII. lodged, and set on its proper basis. •v/. [^(^.V,V^,,!^.^' 

And in this we are confirmed, because, by tlie decrees of 
the first general councils, the concerns of every province were 
to be settled in the province itself; and it so continued till 
the usurpations of the papacy broke in every where, and dis- 
ordered this constitution. Through the whole Roman com- 
munion the chief jurisdiction is now in the pope; only princes 
have laid checks upon the extent of it ; and by appeals the 
secular court takes cognizance of aU that is done either by the 
pope or the clergy. This we are sure is the efiect of usur- 
pation and tyranny: yet since this authority is in fact so 
settled, we do not pretend to aimul the acts of that power, nor 
the missions or orders given in that church ; because there is 
among them an order in fact, though not as it ought to be, 
in right. On the other hand, when the body of the clergy 
comes to be so corrupted that nothing can be trusted to the 
regular decisions of any synod or meeting, called according to 
their constitution, then if the prince shall select a peculiar 
number, and commit to their care the examining and reform- 
ing both of doctrine and worship, and shall give the legal 
sanction to what they shall offer to him ; we must confess 
that such a method as this runs contrary to the established 
rules, and that therefore it ought to be very seldom put in 
practice ; and never, except when the greatness of the occa- 
sion will balance this irregularity that is in it. But still here 
is an authority both in fact and right ; for if the magistrate 
has a power to make laws in sacred matters, he may ord^r 
those to be prepared, by whom, and as he pleases. 

Finally, if a company of Christians find the public worship 
where they live to be so defiled that they cannot with a good 
conscience join in it, and if they do not know of any place 
to which they can conveniently go, where they may worship 
God purely, and in a regular way; if, I say, such a body find- 
ing some that have been ordained, though to the lower func- 
tions, should submit itself entirely to their conduct, or finding 
none of those, should by a common consent desire some of 
their own number to minister to them in holy things, and 
should upon that beginning grow up to a regulated constitu- 
tion, though we are very sure that this is quite out of all 
rule, and could not be done without a very great sin, unless 
the necessity were great and apparent ; yet if the necessity is 
real and not feigned, this is not condemned or annulled by 
the Article ; for when this grows to a constitution, and when 
it was begun by the consent of a body, who are supposed to 
have an authority in such an extraordinary case, whatever 
some hotter spirits have thought of this since that time ; yet 
we are very sure, that not only those who penned the Arti- 
cles, but the body of this church for above half an age after, 
did, notwithstanding those irregularities, acknowledge the 



THE X^XtX ARTICLES. 



339 



jPciteign diurclies so constituted^ to be true churches as to all A R T. 
the essentials of a church, though they had been at first ^^^^^ 
irregularly formed, and continued still to be in an imperfect 
state. And therefore the general words in which this part of 
the Article is framed^ seem to have been designed on purpose 
not to exclude them. 

Here it is to be considered, that the high-priest among the 
Jews was the chief person in that dispensation ; not only the 
chief in rule, but he that was by the divine appointment to 
officiate in the chief act of their religion, the yearly expiation 
for the sins of the whole nation ; which was a solemn renew- 
ing their covenant with God, and by which atonement was 
made for the sins of that people. Here it may be very rea- 
sonably suggested, that since none besides the high-priest 
might make this atonement, then no atonement was made^ 
if any other besides the high-priest should so officiate. To 
this it is to be added, that God had by an express law fixed 
the high-priesthood in the eldest of Aaron's family ; and that 
therefore^ though that being a theocracy, any prophets em- 
powered of God might have transferred this office from one 
person or branch of that family to another ; yet without such 
an authority no other person might make any such change. 
But after all this, not to mention the Maccabees, and all their 
successors of the Asmonean family, as Herod had begun to 
change the high-priesthood at pleasure ; so the Romans not 
only continued to do this, but in a most mercenary manner 
they set this sacred function to sale. Here were as great 
nullities in the high-priests that were in our Saviour's time> 
as can be well imagined to be; for, the Jews keeping their 
genealogies so exactly as they did, it could not but be well 
known in whom the right of this office rested ; and they all 
knew that he who had it, purchased it, yet these were in fact 
high-priests : and since the people could have no other, the 
atonement was still performed by their ministry. Our Sa- John xi. 
viour owned Caiaphas, the sacrilegious and usurping high-^^- ^J'"- 
priest, and as such he prophesied. This shews that where the ' ' " 
necessity was real and unavoidable, the Jews were bound to 
think that God did, in consideration of that, dispense with his 
own precept. This may be a just inducement for us to be- 
lieve, that whensoever God by his providence brings Chris- 
tians under a visible necessity of being either without all 
order and joint worship, or of joining in an unlawful and 
defiled worship, or finally, of breaking through rules and 
methods in order to the being united in worship and govern- 
ment ; that of these three, of which one must be chosen, the 
last is the least evil, and has the fewest inconveniences hang- 
ing upon it, and that therefore it may be chosen. 

Our reformers had also in view two famous instances in 
church-history of laymen that had preached and converted 
nations to the faith. It is true, they came, as they ought to 

z 2 



340 



AN EXPOSITION Of^'^ 



ART. have done, to be regularly ordained, and were sent to such as 
XXlil. had authority so to do. So Frumentius preached to the 
Indians, and was afterwards made a priest and a bishop by 
Athanasius. The king of the Iberians, before he was bap- 
tized himself, did convert his subjects ; and, as says the his- 
torian, he became the apostle of his country before he him- 
self was initiated. It is indeed added, that he sent an 
embassy to Constantine the emperor, desiring him that he 
would send priests for the further establishment of the faith 
there. 

These were regular practices ; but if it should happen that 
princes or states should take up such a jealousy of their own 
authority, and should apprehend that the suffering their sub- 
jects to go elsewhere for regular ordinations, might bring 
them under some dependance on those that had ordained 
them, and give them such influence over them, that the 
prince of such a neighbouring and regular church should by 
such ordinations have so many creatures spies, or instruments 
in their own dominions ; and if upon other political reasons 
they had just cause of being jealous of that, and should there- 
upon hinder any such thing in that case, neither our reform- 
ers, nor their successors for near eighty years after those 
Articles were published, did ever question the constitution of 
such churches. 

We have reason to believe that none ought to baptize but 
persons lawfully ordained; yet since there has been a prac- 
tice so universally spread over the Christian church, of allow- 
ing the baptism, not only of laics, but of women, to be lawful, 
though we think that this is directly contrary to the rules 
given by the apostles; yet since this has been in fact so 
generally received and practised, we do not annul such bap- 
tisms, nor rebaptize persons so baptized; though we know 
that the original of this bad practice was from an opinion of 
the indispensable necessity of baptism to salvation. Yet 
since it has been so generally received, we have that regard to 
such a common practice, as not to annul it, though we con- 
demn it. And thus what thought soever private men, as they 
are divines, may have of those irregular steps, the Article of 
the church is conceived in such large and general words, that 
no man, by subscribing it, is bound up from freer and more 
comprehensive thoughts. 



THE XXXIX ARTICLES. 



341 



ART. 
XXIV. 

ARTICLE XXIV. ~~ 

Of speaking in the Congregation in such a Tongue as the 
People under standeth. 

it i£i ti tljing; platnly repugnant to tfje W^ovts of (^otr, mxH t^z 
Custom of tlje d^vimitifit Ci^urcl), to ]^abe d^uUic ^va^tv in t^z 
€i)md)f or to mimsltei: tl)t ^acramcntsi, in a Congue not untfnv 
£5tautrctf of t^z 3Pwpte. 

This Article, though upon the matter very near the same, yet 
was worded much less positively in those at first set forth 
by king Edward, 

$t moiSt fit, antr mo^t agreeable to t!)e OTortf of i&oti, tijat no# 
t\)inQ be reatf or rejear^etr in t\)t Congregation in a Congxie not 
fenolun unto tje 33fOpIe; by^id) Paul i)at5 forbiUtfen to bt 
iJone, unlesliS i^ome be preilent to interpret. 

In king Edward^s Articles they took in preaching with prayer, 
but in the present Article this is restrained to prayer. The 
former only affirms the use of a known tongue to be most- 
fit and agreeable to the word of God ; the latter denies the 
worship in an unknown tongue to be lawful, and affirms it 
to be repugnant to the word of God; to which it adds, a7id 
the custom of the primitive church. 

This Article seems to be founded on the law of nature. 
The worship of God is a chain of acts by which we acknow- 
ledge God^s attributes, rejoice in his goodness, and lay claim 
to his mercies. In all which the more we raise our thoughts^ 
the more seriousness, earnestness, and affection that animates 
our mind, so much the more acceptably do we serve God, 
who is a spirit, and will be worshipped in spirit and in truth. ^ John iv. 
All the words used in devotion are intended to raise in us 23, 24, 
the thoughts that naturally belong to such words. And the 
various acts, which are as it were the breaks in the service, 
are intended as rests to our minds, to keep us the longer 
without weariness and wandering in those exercises. One 
great end of continuance in worship is, that, by the frequent 
repeating and often going over of the same things, they may 
come to be deeply rooted in our thoughts. The chief effect 
that the worship of God has by its own efficiency, is the in- 
fixing those things, about which the branches of it are em- 
ployed, the deeper on our minds ; upon which God gives his 
blessing as we grow to be prepared for it, or capable of it. 
Now all this is lost, if the worship of God is a thread of such 



342 



AN EXPOSITION OF 



A R T. sounds, as makes the person who officiates a barbarian to the 
^'^^V- rest. They have nothing but noise and show to amuse them, 
which how much soever they may strike upon and entertain 
the senses, yet they cannot affect the heart, nor excite the 
mind : so that the natural effect of such a way of worship is 
to make rehgion a pageantry, and the pubUc service of God 
an opera. 

If from plain sense, and the natural consequences of things, 
we carry on this argument to the scriptures, we find the 
whole practice of the Old Testament was to worship God, not 
* only in a tongue that Was understood, for it may be said there 

was no occasion then to use any other ; but that the expres- 
sions used in the prayers and psalms that we find in the Old 
Testament, s*hew they were intended to affect those who were 
to use them ; and if that is acknowledged, then it will clearly 
follow that all ought to understand them; for who can be af- 
fected with that which he does not understand? So this shews 
that the end of public devotion is the exciting and inflaming 
those who bear a share in it. When Ezra and Nehemiah 
were instructing the people out of the law, they took care to 
Neh. viii. have it read ^ distinctly, one giving the sense of it.^ After 
^' they were long in captivity, though it had not worn out quite 

the knowledge of the Hebrew, yet the Chaldee was more 
familiar to them, so a paraphrase was made of the Hebrew 
into that language, though it was rather a different dialect than 
another language ; and by the forms of their prayers, we see 
Neh. ix.5. that One cried with a loud voice, *^ Stand up, and bless the 
Lord your God for ever and ever which shews that all did 
understand the service. When the Syriac tongue became 
more familiar to them, the Jews had their prayers in Syriac; 
and they did read the law in their synagogues in Greek, when 
that language was more familiar to them; when they read the 
law in Greek, we have reason to believe that they prayed like- 
wise in it. In the New Testament, we see the gift of tongues 
was granted to enable the apostles, and others, to go every 
where preaching the gospel, and performing holy functions in 
such a language as might be understood: the world was 
amazed when every man heard them speak in his own lan- 
guage. 

One of the general rules given by St. Paul, with relation to 
the worship of God, is, ^ Let every thing be done to edifica- 
tion.^ Since then the speaking either to God in the name of 
the people, or to the people in the name of God, in an un- 
known tongue, can edify no person ; then by this rule it is to 
be understood to be forbidden. When some who had the 
gift of tongues did indiscreetly shew it in the church of 
Corinth, St. Paul was so offended at that, and thought it 
would appear to the world so undecent, as well as unfruitful, 
that he bestows a whole chapter upon it; and though a great 
part of the discourse is against the pretending to teach the 



343 



jj4d][]fl6'!ti''^li''Tinfe yet is \s6f near so bad ART. 

^ 'as the reading the word of God to them in a tongue not un- 
derstood by them, it being much more important that the 
people should understand the words of the living God than 
the expositions of men ; yet there are many passages in that 
chapter that belong to prayer : the reason of the thing is 
common to both, since, unless the words were understood, 
they who uttered them spoke only to the air; and how should 
it be known what was spoken ? For if the meaning of the 
voice was not known, they would be barbarians to one another. 
^'As to prayer, he says, ' If I pray in an unknown tongue, my i Cor. xiv. 
spirit (that is, the inspiration or gift that is in me) prayeth ; 
but my understanding (that is, my rational powers) is un- 
fruitful ;^ and therefore he concludes that he will both pray Ver. 15. 
and give thanks with the spirit, and with the understanding 
also ; he will do it in such a manner, that the inspiration with 
which he was acted and his rational powers should join to- 
gether. The reason given for this seems evident enough to 
determine the whole matter : ' Else when thou shalt bless Ver. 16, 
with the spirit, how shall he that occupieth the room of the 
unlearned say Amen at thy giving of thanks, seeing he under- 
' standeth not what thou sayest ? For thou verily givest thanks 
well, but the other is not edified/ In which words it is plain 
that the people, even the most unlearned among them, were 
to join in the prayers and praises, and to testify that by say- 
ing Amen at the conclusion of them ; and in order to their 
Jdoing this as became reasonable creatures, it was necessary 
that they should understand what that was which they were 
"to confirm by their Amen. It is also evident that St. Paul 
^judged, that the people ought to be edified by all that was 
J isaid in the church ; and so he says a little after this, ' Let all Ver. 26. 
'things be done to edifying.^ After such plain authorities 
from scripture, supporting that which seems to be founded on 
the light of nature, we need go no further to prove that which 
is mainly designed by this Article. 

The custom of the primitive church is no less clear in this 
point. As the Christian religion was spread to different na- 
tions, so they all worshipped God in their own tongue. The 
Syriac, the Greek, and the Latin, were indeed of that extent, 
that we have no particular history of any churches that lay be- 
yond the compass of those languages ; but there was the same 
reason for putting the worship of God in other languages, that 
there was for these: that which is drawn from the three lan- 
guages, in which the title on our Saviour's cross was written, 
is too trifling a thing to deserve an answer; as if a humour 
of Pilate^s were to be considered as a prophetical warrant, 
what he did being only designed to make that title to be un- 
derstood by all who were then at Jerusalem. There are very Cont. Cel- 
large passages both in Origen and St. Basil, which mention sum, l. 8. 
every tongue^s praising of God; and that the gospel being ^'^^^^^^^^ 

Basil, in 



'J^N EXPOSITION miT 



IS'aeocesa 
rien. 

Jolian. 8. 
Ep. 247 
Concil. 
torn. 9. 



ART. spread to many nations^ he was in evWy riaitibn p'aise 
J^^Hl language of that nation. This continued so long to be the 
epist. ad practice even of the Latin churchy* that in the ninth century, 
c'eiicos when the Slavons were converted^ it was considered at Rome 
by pope John VIII. in what language they should be allowed 
to worship God. And^ as it is pretended^ a voice was heard, 
ifp. 247" every fondue confess to God; upon which that pope 

ConcH. wrote both to the prince and to the bishop of the Slavons, 
allowing them to have their public service in their owii^ 
tongue. But in the other parts of the western church, the 
Latin tongue continued to be so universally understood by 
almost all sorts of people, till the tenth or eleventh century, 
that there was no occasion for changing it ; and by that time 
the clergy were aifecting to keep the people in ignorance, and 
in a blind dependance upon themselves ; and so were willing 
to make them think that the whole business of reconciling 
the people to God lay upon them, and that they were to do 
it for them. A great part of the service of the mass was said 
so loAV, that even they who understood some Latin could not- 
be the better for it, in an age in which there was no printing;:;^ 
and so few copies were to be had of the public offices. The^^ 
scriptures were likewise kept from the people, and the serviee*^^ 
of God was filled with many rites, in all which the clergy-^ 
seemed to design to make the people believe that these were 
sacred charms, of which they only had the secret. So that 
all the edification which was to be had in the public worship^ 
was turned to pomp and show, for the diversion and enter:^^ 
tainment of the spectators. [''^^ 
Con. Trid. In defence of this worship in an unknown tongue, the mairf^ 
slss 22 ai'g^iT^ent that is brought is the authority and infallibility off 
the church, which has appointed it; and since she ought to ' 
be supposed not to have erred, therefore this must be beheved 
to be lawful. We are not much moved with this, especially 
with the authority of the later ages ; so the other arguments 
must be considered, which indeed can scarce be called argn-;" 
ments. The modern tongues change so fast, that they say, iP 
the worship were in them, it must either be often changed, oi^^^ 

* That such was the practice of the Latin church even in the thirteenth century 
appears from the following decree of the fourth Lateran council, held under pope 
Innocent III., a.d. 1215. 

' 4th Lateran, Innocent III,, 1215. Can. ix. p. 161, Labb. vol. xi. 

' Quoniam in plerisque partibus intra eandem civitatem atque dioecesim permixti 
sunt populi diversarum linguarum, habentes sub una fide varies ritus et mores : 
districte prsecipimus, ut pontifices hujusmodi civitatum sive dioecesim provideant 
viros idoneos, qui secundum diversitates rituum et linguarum Divina oflficia illis 
celebrent, et ecclesiastica sacramenta ministrent, instruendo eis verbo pariter et 
exemplo.' — De diversis ritibus in eademjide. 

With this the following canon of the council of Trent affords a curious contrast : 
' Si quis dixerit ecclesiae Romanse ritum, quo summissa voce pars canonis, et verba 
consecrationis proferuntur, damnandum esse; aut lingua tantum vulgari missam 
celebrari debere : aut aquam non miscendam esse vino in calice ofFerendo, eo quod 
sit contra Christi institutionem : anathema sit.' — [Ed.] 



THE XXXIX ARTICLES. 



345 



the phrases would grow old^ and sound harshly. A few alter- ART. 
ations once in an age will set this matter right; besides, that ^^^^ 
the use of such forms does fix a language, at least as to those 
phrases that are used in it, which grow to be so familiar to 
our ears by constant use, that they do not so easily wear out. 
It is above eighty years since the present translation of the 
Bible was made, and above one hundred and forty since our 
Liturgy was compiled, and yet we perceive no uncouthness 
in the phrases. The simplicity, in which such forms must be 
drawn, makes them not so subject to alteration as other com- 
posures, of rhetoric or poetry ; but can it be thought any in- 
conveniency now and then to alter a little the words or phrases 
of our service? Much less can that be thought of weight 
enough to balance the vaster prejudice of keeping whole 
nations in ignorance, and of extinguishing devotion by enter- 
taining it with a form of worship that is not understood. 

Nor can this be avoided by saying, that the people are 
furnished with forms in their own language, into which the 
greatest part of the public offices are translated : for as tbis is 
not done but since the Reformation began, and in those na- 
tions only where the scandal that is given by an unknown 
language might have, as they apprehend, ill effects; so it is 
only an artifice to keep those still in their communion, whom 
such a gross practice, if not thus disguised, might otherwise 
drive from them. But still the public worship has no edifi- 
cation in it ; nor can those who do not understand it say 
Amen, according to St. Paul. Finally, they urge the commu- 
nion of saints, in order to which they think it is necessary 
that priests, wheresoever they go, may be able to officiate, 
which they cannot do if every nation worships God in its own 
language. And this was indeed very necessary in those ages 
in which the see of Rome did by provisions, and the other 
inventions of the canonists, dispose of the best benefices to 
their own creatures and servants. That trade would have 
been spoiled, if strangers might not have been admitted till 
they had learned the language of the country ; and thus, in- 
stead of taking care of the people that ought to be edified by 
the public worship, provision was made at their cost for such 
vagrant priests as have been in all ages the scandals of the 
church, and the reproaches of religion. 



346 8£ AN EXPOSITION O^^ 

^noiiqhoaab > j 3lnii:r, ,^'rr» ^^^^^^ qllipirfjsn i?,om esif il 
nsay/isd :iuq 9cf o:t ai 4f5 ■ ^ ^ ^ tS.t^rfa'g ni g^nsniBiOfiZ 
aaih isdcto gBSisrfw ^^f'^. q ' ^^^^ ztomBioBg 

,fTv/nfT>f f>TR gfrrtitphffO -V* the oacraments. b p^n^.? po^t^j;,'! i^-j*? 

.y^af ramciit^ mtiatnctf of €\)vkt ht not ouXi) BatJgeig or CofeensJ of 
Ci;ri:gtian 0im'^ 33i'ofc£^sion, I)ut rat]^tr t]^$o be certain £iure 
OTitae^^t^, antr effectual ^tgn^ of (^race, an9 <©oti'^ Will to^ 
luartJ^ u^, tl)e luljidj ije tlotij iuorfe mtJi^ibXi) in U£J, antl tJotf; 
not onlp ixiucjfeen, hut aUo iStrenstijen anU eonfirm, our dFaitl) in 

Cljere are Ciuo ^acramentjl orUatnetl of Cijrt^t our Eortr m tl;e 

#o^pel : tijat to ^av, ?3aptt5m, anti tf;e Supper of t!;e Horb. 
C^o^e fi'ije eommonli) ealletr ^acrament:^, ti)at to i^ay, Conffrma^ 
• tton, penance, (©rtfer^, fHatrimonw, anlJ ejitreme Unction, are not 
to be counte"J3 for ^acramenti> of t\)t (J^os'pel; fcemg ^m\) a^ i^abe 
groiun partly of ti)t corrupt folloiutng of tl^e Kpo^tlei^, partly 
I are ^tate5 of ICife allolue'D in tl)t ^cripture^, but yet i)aht not 
^ likt feature of ^acramentij' luitlj 33apti^m, an"tl tl^e 3lorl]i*iS ^up? 
per; for tijat ti)tvf i)abt not any hi^ihh ^ign or Ceremony ortJainetf 
of (§otr. 

Clje ^acrament^ iuere not ortiametf of Ci)r{^t to be ga^elJ upon, or 
y . to be carrietr about, but tljat lue igljoultr truly uj^e tl;em. ^nti in 
r ^uc^ only bortljily receibe tj^e iSame ti;ey i)abe a lojot^i^iime 
iSffect or (J^peration; but ti)tv ti)at teceibe tijem uniuortj^ily, pmv 
ci)a^t to tijemi^elbe^ iiamnation, a^ ^t. Paul ^aitf). 

^5 There is a great diversity between the form of this Article, 
as it is now settled^ and that published by king Edward, 
which begun in these words : Our Lord Jesus Christ gathered 

•Ms people into a society by sacraments, very few in number, 
7nost easily to be kept, and of most excellent signification ; that 
is to say, Baptism, and the Supper of the Lord. There is no- 
thing in that edition instead of the paragraph concerning the 
other five pretended sacraments. Next comes the paragraph 
which is here the last, only with the addition of these words 
after operation : Not as some say, ex opere operato, which 
terms, as they are strange and utterly unknoivn to the holy 
scripture, so do they yield a sense which savoureth of little 
piety, but of much superstition : and, in conclusion, the para- 
graph comes, with which the Article does now begin ; so that 
in all this diversity there is no real difference : for the virtue 
of the sacraments being put in the worthy receiving, excludes 
the doctrine of opus operatum,^ as formally as if it had ex- 
pressly been condemned ; and the naming the two sacraments 

* For the canons of the Council of Trent respecting the sacraments, and doc- 
trine of opiis operatum, see note, page 164.— [Ed.] 



THE XXXIX ARTICLES. 



347 



instituted by Christy is upon the matter the rejecting of all the A R T. 
rest. 

It was most natural to begin this article with a description 
of sacraments in general. This difference is to be put between 
sacraments and other ritual actions ; that whereas other rites 
are badges and distinctions by which the Christians are known, 
a sacrament is more than a bare matter of form ; and as^ in the 
Old Testament, circumcision and propitiatory sacrifices were 
things of a different nature and order from all the other ritual 
precepts concerning the clean sings, the distinctions of days, 
places, and meats. These were indeed precepts given them of 
God, but they were not federal acts of renewing the covenant, 
or reconcihng themselves to God. By circumcision they 
received the seal of the covenant, and were brought under 
the obligation of the whole law : they were by it made debtors 
to it ; and when by their sins they had provoked God^s wrath, 
they were reconciled to him by their sacrifices, with which 
atonement was made, and so their sins were forgiven them. 
The nature and end of those was to be federal acts, in the 
ofiering of which the Jews kept to their part of the covenant, 
and in the accepting of which God maintained it on his part ; 
so we see a plain difference between these and a mere rite, 
which, though commanded, yet must pass only for the badge 
of a profession, as the doing of it is an act of obedience to 
a divine law. Now, in the new dispensation, though our 
Saviour has eased us of that law of ordinances, that grievous 
yoke, and those beggarly elements which were laid upon the 
Jews ; yet, since we are still in the body, subject to our senses, 
and to sensible things, he has appointed some federal actions, 
to be both the visible stipulations and professions of our 
Christianity, and the conveyances to us of the blessings of 
the gospel. i ^'^^^^^ 

There are two extremes to^ be avoided in this matter. The 
one is of the church of Rome, that teaches, that as some 
sacraments imprint a character upon the soul, which they 
define to be a physical quality, that is, supernatural and spi- 
rit-ual, so they do all carry along with them such a divine 
virtue, that by the very receiving them (the opus operatum) it 
is conveyed to the soids of those to whom they are applied, 
unless they themselves put a bar in the way of it by some 
mortal sin. In consequence of this, they reckon, that by the 
sacraments given to a man in his agonies, though he is very 
near past all sense, and so cannot join any lively acts of his 
mind with the sacraments, yet he is justified ; not to mention 
the common practice of giving extreme unction in the last 
agony, when no appearance of any sense is left. This we 
reckon a doctrine that is not only without all foundation in 
scripture, but that tends to destroy all rehgion, and to make 
men live on securely in sin, trusting to this, that the sacra- 
ments may be given them when they die. The conditions of 



AN EXPOSITION OF''^ 



ART; the new covenant are^ repentance^ faith^ and obedience; and 
XXV. we look on this as the corrupting the vitals of this religion, 
when any such means are proposed^ by which the main design 
of the gospel is quite overthrown. The business of a character 
is an unintelligible notion. We acknowledge baptism is not 
to be repeated ; but that is not by virtue of a character im- 
printed in it, but because it being a dedication of the person 
to God in the Christian religion, what is once so done is to be 
understood to continue still in that state, till such a person 
falls into an open apostacy. In case of the repentance of such 
a person, we finding that the primitive church did reconcile/ 
but not rebaptize apostates, do imitate that their practice; 
but not because of this late and unexplicable notion of a cha- 
racter. We look on all sacramental actions as acceptable to 
God only with regard to the temper, and the inward acts of 
the person to whom they are applied, and cannot consider 
them as medicines or charms, which work by a virtue of their 
own, whether the person to whom they are applied co-operates 
1 Pet. iii. with them, or not. Baptism is said by St. Peter ^ to save us,* 
^^v not as it is an action that washes us; 'not the putting awa^' 
the filth of the flesh, but the answer of a good conscience to^ 
wards God.^ And therefore baptism without this professioii 
is no baptism, but seems to be used as a charm ; unless it is 
said, that this answer or profession is implied, whensoever 
baptism is desired. When a person of age desires baptism, he 
must make those answers and sponsions, otherwise he is not 
truly baptized; and though his outward making of them being 
all that can fall under human cognizance, he who does that 
must be held to be truly baptized, and all the outward privi- 
leges of a baptized person must belong to him ; yet as to the 
effect of baptism on the soul of him that is baptized, without 
doubt that depends upon the sincerity of the professions and 
vows made by him. The wills of infants are by the law of 
nature and nations in their parents, and are transferred by 
them to their sureties ; the sponsions that are made on their 
behalf are considered as made by themselves ; but there the 
outward act is sufficient ; for the inward acts of one person 
cannot be supposed necessary to give the sacrament its virtue 
in another. 

lCor.x.16. In the eucharist, by our 'shewing forth our Lord^s death 
till he comes,^ we are admitted to the ' communion of his body 
and blood ;' to a share in partnership with other Christians 
in the effects and merits of his death. But the unworthy 
receiver is guilty of his body and blood, and brings thereby 
down judgments upon himself; so that to fancy a virtue in 
sacraments that works on the person to whom they are ap- 
plied, without any inward acts accompanying it, and upon his 
being only passive, is a doctrine of which we find nothing in 
the scriptures ; which teach us that every thing we do is only 
accepted of God, with regard to the disposition of mind that 



THE XXXIX ARTICLES. 349 



he knows us to be in when we go about it. Our prayers and A M T 
sacrifices are so far from being accepted of God^ that they are ^ ^ ' 
abomination to him, if they come from wicked and defiled 
hearts. The making men beheve that sacraments may be 
effectual to them when they are next to a state of passivity, 
not capable of any sensible thoughts of their own, is a sure 
way to raise the credit of the clergy, and of the sacrament ; 
but at the same time it will most certainly dispose men to live 
in sin, hoping that a few rites, which may be easily procured 
at their death, will clear all at last. And thus we reject, not 
without great zeal against the fatal effects of this error, all that 
is said of the opus operatmn ; the very doing of the sacrament: 
we think it looks more like the incantations of heathenism, 
than the purity and simplicity of the Christian religion. 

But the other extreme, that we likewise avoid, is that of 
sinking the sacraments so low, as to be mere rites and cere- 
monies. St. Peter says, ' Baptism saves us.^ St. Paul calls 
it, the ^ laver of regeneration to which he joins ^ the renewing Tit. iii. 5. 
of the Holy Ghost.' Our Saviour saith, ' He that beheveth, ^^^'^ 'f^'- 
and is baptized, shall be saved and, Except ye are born joi',^ in. 
again of water and of the Spirit, ye cannot enter into the king- 3, 5. 
dom of God.' These words have a sense and signification that 
rises far above a mere ceremony done to keep up order, and to 
maintain a settled form. The phrase ^ communion of the body 
axid blood of Christ,' is above the nature of an anniversary, or 
memorial feast. This opinion we think is very unsuitable to. 
those high expressions; and we do not doubt but that Christ| 
who instituted those sacraments, does still accompany them 
with a particular presence in them, and a blessing upon them; 
so that we coming to them with minds well prepared, with 
pure affections and holy resolutions, do certainly receive in 
and with them particular largesses of the favour and bounty 
of God. They are not bare and naked remembrances and 
tokens ; but are actuated and animated by a divine blessing 
that attends upon them. This is what we believe on this 
head, and these are the grounds upon which we found it. 

A sacrament is an institution of Christ, in which some ma- 
terial thing is sanctified by the use of some form or words, in 
and by which federal acts of this religion do pass on both 
sides ; on ours, by stipulations, professions, or vows ; and on 
God's by his secret assistances : by these we are also united 
to the body of Christ, which is the church. It must be in- 
stituted by Christ: for though ritual matters, that are only 
the expressions of our duty, may be appointed by the church; 
yet federal acts, to which a conveyance of divine grace is tied, 
can only be instituted by him who is the Author and Mediator 
of this new covenant, and who lays down the rules or conditions 
of it, and derives the blessings of it by what methods and in 
what channels he thinks fit. Whatsoever his apostles settled, 
was by authority and commission from him ; therefore it is 



350 



EXPOSITIGN m ^ 



ART. not to be denied, but that if they had appointed any sacr^- 
XXV. mental action, that must be reckoned to be of the same autho- 
~~~~ rity, and is to be esteemed Christ's institution, as much as^if 
. he himself, when on earth, had appointed it. 

Matter is of the essence of a sacrament ; for words without 
.7/.y^.jt( some material thing, to which they belong, may be of the 
nature of prayers or vows, but they cannot be sacraments : 
receiving a sacrament is on our part our faith plighted to God 
in the use of some material substance or other; for in this 
consists the difference between sacraments and other acts of 
worship. The latter are only acts of the mind declared by 
words or gesture, whereas sacraments are the application of a 
material sign, joined with acts of the mind, words, and ges- 
tures. With the matter there must be a form, that is, such 
words joined with it as do appropriate the matter to such an 
use, and separate it from all other uses, at least in the act 4f 
the sacrament. For in any piece of matter alone, there cah-' 
not be a proper suitableness to such an end, as seems to be 
designed by sacraments, and therefore a form must determine 
and apply it ; and it is highly suitable to the nature of things, 
to believe that our Saviour, who has instituted the sacrament, 
has also either instituted the form of it, or given us such hints' 
as to lead us very near it. The end of sacraments is double''^" 
the one is by a solemn federal action both to unite us 't6^' 
Christ, and also to derive a secret blessing from him to u§^ 
and the other is to join and unite us by this public profession^ 
and the joint partaking of it, with his body, which is the 
church. This is, in general, an account of a sacrament. This, 
it is true, is none of those words that are made use of in 
scripture, so that it has no determined signification given to it 
1 ib. X. in the word of God ; yet it was very early applied by Pliny to 
'^p. 97. those vows by which the Christians tied themselves to their 
religion, taken from the oaths by which the soldiery among 
the Romans were sworn to their colours or officers ; and from 
that time this term has been used in a sense consecrated to 
the federal rites of religion. Yet if any will dispute about 
words, we know how much St. Paul condemns all those 
curious and vain questions, which have in them the subtilties 
1 Tim. vi. and ' oppositions of science falsely so called.^ If any will call 
every rite used in holy things, a sacrament, we enter into no 
such contentions. 

The rites, therefore, that we understand when we speak of 
sacraments, are the constant federal rites of Christians, which 
are accompanied by a divine grace and benediction, being 
instituted by Christ to unite us to him, and to his church ; 
and of such we own that there are two. Baptism, and the 
Supper of the Lord, In Baptism, there is matter, water; 
Matt. there is a form, the person dipped or washed, with words, ' I 
xxviii. 19, baptize thee in the name of the Father, and of the Son, and 
^of the Holy Ghost there is an institution, * Go preach and 



THE XXm!XO\:OTICLES. 



351 



baptize;^ there is a federal sponsion^ The answer of a good ART. 
conscience ;^ there is a blessing conveyed with it^ ^ Baptism 
saves us there is ' one baptism^ as there is one body and i Pet, Hi 
one spirit; we are all baptized into one body/ So that here 21. 
all the constituent and necessary parts of a sacrament are 
found in baptism. In the Lord^s Supper^ there is bread and 27^^^'' 
zvine for the matter. The giving it to be eat and drunk, with 
the words that our Saviour used in the first supper, are the 
form : ^ Do this in remembrance of me/ is the institution, i Cor. xi. 
' Ye shew forth the Lord^s death till he come again/ is the 23—27. 
declaration of the federal act of our part : it is also the ^ com- 1 Cor. x. 
mmiion of the body and of the blood of Christ/ that is, the^^' 
conveyance of the blessings of our partnership in the effects 
of the death of Christ. ' And we being many, are one bread 
and one body, for we are all partakers of that one bread / this 
shews the union of the church in this sacrament. Here th em 
we have in these two sacraments, both matter, form, institu-t 
tion, federal acts, blessings conveyed, and the union of thej 
body in them. All the characters which belong to a sacra^i 
ment agree fully to them. 5 ;j 

In the next place we must, by these characters, examine! 
the other pretended sacraments. It is no wonder if, the word,! 
sacrament being of a large extent, there should be some pas:*i? 
sages in ancient writers, that call other actions so besidesj 
Baptism and the Lord's Supper ; for in a larger sense everyj 
holy rite may be so called. But it is no small prejudice^ 
against the number of seven sacraments, that Peter Lombard>j5 
a writer in the twelfth century, is the first that reckons seveni:^ 
of them : from that mystical expression of the seven spirits offf 
God, there came a conceit of the sevenfold operation of the 
Spirit ; and it looked like a good illustration of that, to assert 
seven sacraments. This pope Eugenius put in his instruction Lib. 3. 
to the Armenians, which is pubhshed with the Council of ^^^* ^* 
Florence ; and aU was finally settled at Trent.* Now there 
might have been so many fine allusions made on the number ^, 
seven, and some of the ancients were so much set on such:| 
allusions, that since we hear nothing of that kind from any 
of them, we may well conclude, that this is more than an 
ordinary negative argument against their having believed that = 
there were seven sacraments. To go on in order with them : 

The first that we reject, which is reckoned by them the 
second, is confirmation. But to explain this, we must con- 

* The following is the canon of the council of Trent, in which she adds her five, ,^ 
new sacraments to those appointed by our Lord: — ' Si quis dixerit, sacramenta '* 
novae legis non fuisse omnia a Jesu Christo, Domino nostro, instituta ; autesse' *' 
plura vel pauciora quam septem, videlicet,, baptismum, confirmationem, eucharis- ■> 
tiam, poenitentiam, extremam unctionem, ordinem, et matrimonium ; aut etiam ^ 
aliquod horum septem non esse vere et proprie sacramentum : anathema sit.*;- 
Scsi/o vii. can. 1. >l .IJbM 

The reader will find the same doctrine embodied in the creed of po|>^ Pius IXjfJ «9I JiivsK 
See Appendix.— [Ed.] - ■_i-f.£U o.fi m^^A^ ^1 iSOliO yIoH 9fij lO 



352 



AN EXPOSITION OF 



A R T. sider in what respect our church receives confirmation^ 

• upon what reasons it is that she does not acknowledge it to he 
Acts viii. a sacrament. We find that after Phihp^ the deacon and evah- 
12, 14, 15, gehst, had converted and baptized some in Samaria^ Peter and 
John were sent thither by the apostles^ who ^ laid their hands' 
on such as were baptized, and ^ prayed that they might 
receive the Holy Ghost f upon which it is said, that ^ they 
received the Holy Ghost.' Now though ordinary functions, 
when performed by the apostles, such as their laying on of 
hands on those whom they ordained or confirmed, had extra- 
ordinary effects accompanying them ; but when the extraor- 
dinary effects ceased, the end for which these were at first 
given being accomplished, the gospel having been fully attested 
to the world, yet the functions were still continued of coil- 
Heb. vi. 2.firmation as well as ordination: and as the Maying on of 
hands,' that is reckoned among the principles of the Christi^H' 
doctrine, after repentance and faith, and subsequent to bap- 
tism, seems very probably to belong to this ; so from these 
warrants we find in the earliest writings of Christianity 
mention of a confirmation after baptism, which for the greater 
solemnity and awe of the action, and from the precedent of 
St. Peter and St. John, was reserved to the bishop, to be 
done only by him. i^*^ ' 

Upon these reasons we think it is in the power of th^' 
church to requira all such as have been baptized, to come 
before the bishop and renew their baptismal vow, and pray 
for God's holy Spirit to enable them to keep their vow ; and, 
upon their doing this, the bishop may solemnly pray ovei*' 
them, with that ancient and almost natural ceremony of lay- 
ing his hands upon them, which is only a designation of the 
persons so prayed over, and blessed, that God may seal and 
defend them mth his holy Spirit; in which, according to 
nature of the new covenant, we are sure that such as do thii^' ' 
vow and pray, do also receive the Holy Spirit, according to 
the promise th^it our Saviour has made us. In this actidh ' ' 
there is nothing but what is in the power of the church to dp!,' 
even without any other warrant or precedent. The doing all 
things to order, and to edifying, will authorize a church to all 
this ; especially, since the now universal practice of infant 
baptism makes this more necessary than it was in the first 
times, when chiefly the adult were baptized. It is highly 
reasonable that they, who gave no actual consent of their own, 
should come, and by their own express act make the stipu- 
lations of baptism. It may give greater impressions of awe 
and respect, when this is restrained to the highest order in 
the church. Upon the sincere vows and earnest prayers of 
persons thus confirmed, we have reason to believe that a pro- 
portioned degree of God's grace and Spirit will be poured out 
upon them. And in all this we are much confirmed, when we 
see such warrants for it in scripture. A thing so good in 



THE XXmX ARTICLES. 



353 



itself, that has at least a probable authority for it^ and was A R 
certainly a practice of the first ages, is upon very just grounds XXV. 
continued in our church. Would to God it were as seriously ~^ 
gone about, as it is lawfully established ! 

But, after all this, here is no sacrament, no express institu- 
tion, neither by Christ nor his apostles ; no rule given to 
practise it, and, which is the most essential, there is no matter 
here ; for the laying on of hands is only a gesture in prayer ; 
nor are there any federal rites declared to belong to it ; it 
being indeed rather a ratifying and confirming the baptism, 
than any new stipulation. To supply all this, the church of 
Rome has appointed matter for it. The chrism, which is a 
mixture of oi/-olive and balm {ppobalsamum) , the oil signifying 
the clearness of a good conscience, and the balm the savour 
of a good reputation. This must be peculiarly blessed by the 
bishop, who is the only minister of that function. The form 
of this sacrament is the applying the chrism to the forehead, 
with these words, Signo te signo crucis, et cojifirmo te chris- 
mate salutis, in nomine Patris, Filii, et Spiritus Sancti: ' I sign 
thee with the sign of the cross, and confirm thee with the 
chrism of salvation, in the name of the Father, the Son, and 
the Holy Ghost.^ They pretend Christ did institute this ; but 
they say the Holy Ghost which he breathed on his disciples, 
being a thing that transcended all sacraments, he settled no 
determined ^natter nor form to it; and that the succeeding 
ages appropriated this matter to it. 

We do not deny, but that the Christians began very early 
to use oil in holy functions ; the climates they lived in making 
it necessary to use oil much, for stopping the perspiration, 
that might dispose them the more to use oil in their sacred 
rites. It is not to be denied, but that both Theophilus and Theophil. 
TertuUian, in the end of the second, and the beginning of the [j^j'^'^.j,^"" 
third century, do mention it. The frequent mention of oil, ^de^^aptl. 
and of anointing, in the scripture, might incline them to this : 7,8.deRe- 
it was prophesied of Christ, that he was to be ^ anointed with sui^Car.c. 
the oil of joy and gladness above his fellows:' and the names 79/ 
of Messias and Christ do also import this ; but yet we hold all 
that to be mystical, and that it is to be meant of that fulness 
of the Spirit which he received without measure. Upon the 
same account we do understand those words of St. Paul in the 
same mystical sense : ' He that establislieth us with you in 2Cor. i. 
Christ, and hath anointed us, is God; who hath also sealed 2'^- 
us, and given the earnest of the Spirit in our hearts as also 
those words of St. John : ^ But ye have an unction from the i -Tohn ii. 
Holy One, and ye know all things. The anointing which ye 
have received of him abideth in you ; and ye need not that 
any man teach you, but as tlie same anointing teacheth you 
all things.' These words do clearly relate to somewhat that 
the Christians received immediately from God ; and so must 
be understood figuratively : for we do not see the least hnit 

•2 A 



354 



AN EXPOSITION OF 



ART. of the apostles using of oil, except to the sick ; of which after- 
"vyards. So that if this use of oil is considered only as a cere- 
/ mony of a natural signification, that was brought into the 
.1 rituals of the church, it is a thing of another nature : but if a 
sacrament is made of it, and a divine virtue is joined to that, 
we can admit of no such thing, without an express institution 
and declaration in scripture. ' 
Araus" '^^^ invention that was afterwards found out, by which tliK' 
can. 1, 2. ^^^^^P was held to be the only minister of confirmation, even 
Cod. AfFr. though presbyters were suffered to confirm, was a piece of 
Con* Tol ^^P^^^ti^^^^"^ without any colour from scripture. It was settled, 
cap. 20. the bishop oidy might consecrate the chrism ; and though 

Labb. et he was the orclinary minister of confirmation, yet presbyters 
i?°^^'l26i ^^^^ suffered to do it, the chrism being consecrated by 
1474. ' bishop : presbyters thus confirming was thought like the 
deacons giving the sacrament, though priests only mi^ht con- 
Hieron. ad secrate the eucharist. In the Latin church Jerome tells "d^^ 
Lucifer, that in liis time the bishop only confirmed ; and though he 
makes the reason of this to be rather for doing an honour to 
them, than from any necessity of the law, yet he positively 
says^ the bishops went round praying for the Holy Ghost ofi 
Hilar, in those whom they confirmed. It is said by Hilary, that in 
Ep^lies' ut presbyters did conjirm in the bishop's absence : S(5 

supra. that custom, j oined with the distinction between the conseci"^- 
tion, and the applying of the chrism, grew to be the universal 
practice of the Greek clmrch. / The greatness of dioceses, with 
the increasing numbers of the Christians, made that both tri 
France, in the councils of Orange; and in Spain, in tlie 
council of Toledo, the same rule was laid down that th^ 
Greeks had begun. In Spain some priests did consecrate the 
chrism, but that w^as severely forbid in one of the councils of 
Toledo : yet at Rome the ancient custom was observed of 
appropriating the whole business of confirmation to the bishoji, 
Greg. Ep. even in Gregory the Great^s time : therefore he reproved the 
1. iii.Ep. 9. clergy of Sardinia, because among them the priest did con- 
firm, and he appointed it to be reserved to the bishop. But, 
when he understood that some of them were offended at this, 
he writ to the bishop of Carali, that though his former order 
was made according to the ancient practice of the church of 
Rome, yet he consented that for the future the priest might 
confirm in the bishop's absence. But pope Nicholas in the 
ninth century pressed this with more rigour : for the Bulga- 
rians being then converted to the Christian religion, and their 
priests having both baptized and confirmed the new converts, 
pope Nicholas sent bishops among them, with orders to con- 
firm even those who had already been confirmed by priests : 
upon which, the contest being then on foot between Rome 
and Constantinople, Photius got it to be decreed in a synod 
at Constantinople, that the chrism being hallowed by a bishop, 
it might be administered by presbyters : and Photius affirmed. 



^55 



the altar. But pope Nicholas, with the confidence that was 
often assumed by that see upon as bad grounds, did afhrm, jjgcr. 
that this had never been allowed of. And upon this many of Con. Flo- 
the Latins did, in the progress of their disputes with the'"®'^*- 
Greeks, say, that they had no confirmation. This has been 
more enlarged on, than was necessary by the designed short- 
ness of this work, because all those of the Roman communion 
among us have now no confirmation, unless a bishop happens 
to come amongst them. And therefore it is now a common 
doctrine among them, that though confirmation is a sacra- 
ment, yet it is not necessary. 

About this there were fierce disputes among them about 
sixty years ago, whether it was necessary for them to have a 
bishop here to confirm, according to the ancient custom, or 
not. The Jesuits, who had no mind to be under any autho- 
rity but their own, opposed it; for the bishop being by pope 
Eugenius declared to be the ordinary minister of it, from 
thence it was inferred, that a bishop was not simply necessary. 
This was much censured by some of the Gallican church. If 
confirmation were considered only as an ecclesiastical rite, we 
could not dispute the power of the church about it; but we 
cannot allow that a sacrament should be thus within the power 
of the church; or that a new function of consecrating oil, 
without applying it, distinct from confirmation, and yet ne- 
cessary to the very essence of it, could have been set up by 
the power of the church ; for if sacraments are federal convey- 
ances of grace, they must be continued according to their 
first institution, the grace of God being only tied to the 
actions with which it is proniised. 

We go next to the second of the sacraments here rejected, 
which is Penance, that is reckoned the fourth in order among 
them. Penance, or penitence, is formed from the Latin trans- 
lation of a Greek word that signifies a change or renovation of 
mind ; which Christ has made a necessary condition of the 
new covenant. It consists in several acts ; by all which, when 
joined together, and producing this real change, we become 
true penitents, and have a right to the remission of sins, which 
is in the New Testament often joined with repentance, and is 
its certain consequent. The first act of this repentance is, 
confession to God, before whom we must humble ourselves, 
and confess our sins to him ; upon which we believe that ^he is i John i.9. 
faithful,' and true to his promises, and ^just to forgive us our 
sins;' and if we have wronged others, or have given public 
offence to the body, or church to which we belong, we ought 
to con/ess our faults to them likewise ; and as a mean to quiet James v. 
men's consciences, to direct them to complete their repent- 
ance, and to make them more humble and ashamed of their 
sins, we advise them to use secret confession to their priest, 

2 A 2 



356 



' EXPOSITION OF 



A R1\ or to any other minister of God's word; leaving this matter 
^^V- wholly to their discretion.^^ /jirrs 
When these acts of sorrow have had their due effect, in re- 
forming the natures and lives of sinners^ then their sins are 
forgiven them : in order to which, we do teach them to pray 
much, to give alms according to their capacity, and to fast as 
often as their health and circumstances will admit of; and 
most indispensably to restore or repair, as they find they have 
sinned against others. And as we teach them thus to look 
back on what is past, with a deep and hearty sorrow, and a 
profound shame, so we charge -them to look chiefly forv/ard, 
not thinking that any acts with relation to what is past can, 
as it were, by an account or compensation, free us from the 
guilt of our former sins, unless we amend our hves and change 
our tempers for the future; the great design of repentance 
being to make us like God, pure and holy as he is. Upon such 
a repentance sincerely begun and honestly pur sued> we do in 
general, as the heralds of God^s mercy, and the ministers of 
his gospel, pronounce to our people daily, the offers that are 
made us of mercy and pardon by Christ Jesus. This we do 
in our daily service, and in a more peculiar manner before we 

* • The church of England commands confession to be made only to God. Slie 
allows OF recommends to the sick a confession of those things that afflict their minds, 
to their ministers, in order to obtain advice or cunsolaiion. — Is this the doctrine you 
are sworn to teach? Far from it. Must I then, besides exposing- your sophistj*]^^ 
correct your ignorance of yOur own doctrines, by stating them from your (pi*&- 
tcnded) infallible councils? 

' The Trent Doctrine is, that by the bare receiving of the sacraments grace is 
conferred. ( See council of Trent, sessio yii. canon viii.) Confession you make 
part of one of your new sacraments, viz. of the sacrament of penance, as you call 
it, perverting the scripture where the word is repentance, and not penance, although 
you also translate the word repentance as we do, when it suits your purpose. (See 
Acts V, 31, Rhemish Testament.) ' You make confession, which only consists of 
v^ords, the matter of your new sacrament ! — " Smit autem quasi materia hujus sacra- 
menti ipsius poenitentis actus, nempe contritio, confessio et satisfactio." ( Council of 
Trent, sessio xiv. cap. 3.) Confession, according to Trent, is part of the sacra- 
ment of penance, by which grace is conferred "ex opere operato." 

' You have then not only recommended confession to the minister or priest, 
but commanded, under pain of being accursed, secret or auricular confession to 
be made at stated times — not to God, as we say, but unto the priest — not in 
order to obtain advice, as we say, but in order to obtain grace and abso- 
lution ! .' The question then is, Jiot whether it be adviseable to make confession 
to the minister of those things that afflict our minds, in order to obtain advice, hut 
whether to confess all our greater sins, and all that upon strict inquiry we remember, 
not to God, as we admit, but to a priest, be necessary to salvation. You assert that 
it is necessary to salvation ; this the church of England denies ; and protests against 
your unscriptural domination over the consciences and souls of men. The council 
of Trent (sessio xiv. can. 6, 7, 8.) decrees, " that to confess all and every mortal sin, 
which after diligent inquiry we remember, and every evil thought or desire, and the 
circumstances that change the nature of the sin," is necessary to salvation, and of 
divine institution, and whosoever denies this, is to be accursed ! And that all is to 
be done according to the constitution of the great council of Lateran. The order 
of which council was, that all persons of years of discretion should confess their 
sins once at least every year to their own priest, or with his leave to another 
priest; otherwise, when living, they were to be driven from entrance into the 
church, and when dead, they were to have no Christian burial. Now how do you 
support this unscriptural tyranny over the consciences and souls of men ? "When, 
and where, was such a system as this of Trent and Lateran instituted by Christ, or 
commanded, or practised, by the Apostles ?' P//^r i Letters to a Romish Fr^es^.-^[ED.] 



THE XXXIX ARTICLES. 



357 



go to the holy communion. We db also> as we are a body that ART. 
may be offended with the sins of others^ forgive the scandals 
committed against the church ; and that such as we think die 
in a state of repentance, may die in the full peace of the 
church, we join both absolutions in one ; in the last office 
likewise praying to our Saviour that he would forgive 
them, and then we, as the officers of the church, authorized 
for that end, do forgive all the offences and scandals com- 
mitted by them against the whole body. This is our doctrine 
concerning repentance ; in all which w^e find no characters of 
a sacrament, no more than there is in prayer or devotion* 
Here is no matter, no application of that matter by a peculiar 
form, no institution, and no peculiar federal acts. The scene 
here is the mind, the acts are internal, the effect is such also; 
and therefore we do not reckon it a sacrament, not finding in 
it any of the characters of a sacrament. 

The matter that is assigned in the church of Rome, are the 
acts of the penitent; his confession by his mouth to the priest^ 
the contrition of his heart, and the satisfaction of his work, in 
doing the enjoined penance. The aggregate of all these is the 
matter ; and the form, are the words. Ego te absolvo. Now 
besides Avhat we have to say from every one of these parti- 
culars, the matter of a sacrament must be some visible sign 
appHed to him that receives it. It is therefore a very absurd 
thing to imagine that a man^s own thoughts, words, or actions, 
can be the matter of a sacrament : how can this be sanctified 
or applied to him ? It will be a thing no less absurd to make 
the form of a sacrament to be a practice not much elder than Innoc.3.in 
four hundred years ; since no ritual can be produced, nor '^^^^^^i 
author cited, for this form, for above a thousand years after 22. 
Christ; all the ancient forms of receiving penitents having Con. Trid, 
been by a blessing in the form of a prayer, or a declaration ; 
but none of them in these positive words, I absolve thee. We 
think this want oi matter, and this new invented /brm, being 
without any institution in scripture, and different from so long 
a practice of the whole church, are such reasons, that we are 
fully justified in denying penance to be a sacrament. But be- 
cause the doctrine of repentance is a point of the highest 
importance, there arise several things here that ought to 
be very carefully examined. 

As to confession, we find in the scriptures, that such as de- 
sired St. John^s baptism came^ confessing their sins ;^ but jyj^^j g 
that was previous to baptism. We find also that scandalous 
persons were to be ^openly rebuked before all,' and so to be 1 Tim. v., 
put to shame ; in which, no doubt, there was a confession, 20. 
and a publication of the sin ; but that was a matter of the dis- 
cipline and order of the church : which made it necessary to 
*^note such persons as walked disorderly, and to have no 2Thess.iii. 
fellowship with them,' sometimes not so much as to eat with J^. 
them, who being Christians, and such as were called brothers^ ^i. 



Cor. V. 



358 



AN M^(^ttlbN OF 



ART. were a reproach to their profession . fiut feesicfek ' the power 
given to the apostles of binding and loosing, which^ as was saiid 
on another head^ belonged to other matters ; we find that 
when our Saviour breathed on his apostles^ and gave them 
John XX. the Holy Ghost^ he with that told them_, that 'whose soever 
23. sins they remitted, they were remitted ; and whose soever sins 
they retained, they were retained/ Since a power of remit- 
ting or retaining sin was thus given to them, they infer, that 
it seems reasonable, that, in order to their dispensing it with 
a due caution, the knowledge of all sins ought to be laid open 
to them. 

Some have thought that this was a personal thing given to 
the apostles with that miraculous effusion of the Holy Ghost ; 
with which such a discerning of spirits was communicated to 
them, that they could discern the sincerity or hypocrisy of 
Actsv. those that came before them. By this St. Peter discovered 
Actsviii Ananias and Sapphira; and he also saw that Simon 

23. ' of Samaria was 'in the gall of bitterness, and in the bond 
of iniquity so they conclude that this was a part of that ex- 
traordinary and miraculous authority which was given to the 
apostles, and to them only. But others, who distinguish 
between the full extent of this power, and the ministerial 
authority that is still to be continued in the church, do believe 
that these words may in a lower and more limited sense be- 
long to the successors of the apostles ; but they argue very 
strongly, that if these words are to be understood in their 
full extent as they lie, a priest has by them an absolute and 
unlimited power in this matter, not restrained to conditions 
or rules ; so that if he does pardon or retain sins, whether in 
that he does right or wrong, the sins must be pardoned or 
retained accordingly: he may indeed sin in using it wrong, 
for which he must answer to God ; but he seems, by the 
literal meaning of these words, to be clothed with such a ple- 
nipotentiary authority, that his act must be valid, though he 
may be punished for employing it amiss.* 

* The Trent doctrine of absolution is — ' Si quis dixerit, absolutionem sacra- 
mentalem sacerdotis non esse actum judicialem, sed nudum ministerUim pronuntiandi 
et declarandi remissa esse peccata confitenti, modo tantum credat se esse absolutum ; 
aut sacerdos non serio, sed joco absolvat ; aut dixerit non requiri confessionem poeni- 
tentis, ut sacerdos eum absolvere possit ; anathenaa sit ! ! !' Sessio xiv. canon ix. 

' The absolution of the church of England is simply declaratory. The words, as 
you will find them in the daily form of prayer, are, " Almighty God the Father of 
our Loan Jesus Christ, who desireth not the death of a sinner, but rather that he 
may turn from his wickedness and live ; and hath given power and commandment 
to his ministers, to declare and pronounce to his people, being pestilent, the absolution 
and remission of their sins. HE pardoneth and absolveth all them that truly 
repent, and unfeignedly believe his holy gospel." But because the minister pro- 
nounces it thus in the visitation of the sick- — " Our Lord Jesus Christ, who hath 
left power to his church to absolve all sinners who truly repent and believe in him, 
of his great mercy forgive thee thine offences : And by his authority committed to 
me, I absolve thee from all thy sins, in the name of the Father, and of the Son, 
and of the Holy Ghost" — you would, I suppose, ivisely conclude, that when the re- 
formers reached this part of the prayer book, they forgot what they had said in the 
commencement, and here claim a power which there is vested onlij in Cod Or that 



THE articles. 



359 



An ambassador that has full powers, though Limited by ART. 
secret instructions, does bind him that so empowered him by 
j^every act that he does pursuant to his powers, how much 
Pj^oever it may go beyond his instructions ; for how obnoxious 
j^oever that may render him to his master, it does not at all 
gjl^ssen the authority of what he has done, nor the obligation 
_4hat arises out of it. So these words of Christ's, if applied to 
^^all priests, must belong to them in their full extent; and if 
,|^o, the salvation or the damnation of mankind is put abso- 
lutely in the priest's power. Nor can it be answered, that 
the conditions of the pardon of sin that are expressed in the 
,j-pther parts of the gospel, are here to be understood, though 
. ^hey are not expressed; as we are said to be saved if we be- 
lieve, which does not imply that a single act of lielieving the 
l^ospel without any thing else, puts us in a state of salvation, 
j^^^. In opposition to this, we answer, that the gospel having so 
described faith to us, as the root of all other graces and virtues, 
as that which produces them, and which is known by them, 

— ■ ~ [ ' ■ 

gfby saying " by his authority committed unto me, I absolve" &c. ficc. ; it neces- 
r,j5arily follows that they contradict what they had said before, " that power and com- 
jmandment is given unto the minister, to declare ami f ronounce to his people, being 
•fc'^enitent," &c. &c. But a few words will explain this, and may discover to you, 
^-t/that in the language of scripture a thing is said to he done by a person, \yhen his 
doing it only C07isists in his declaring and pi onouncing it — See Jeremiah i. 9, 10. — 
And the Lord said unto me, Behold I have put my words in thy mouth. See I 
Vlhave this day set thee over the nations and over the kingdoms, to root out, and to 
-^jtpull down, and to destroy, and to throw down, to build and to plant." Now we 
I must all grant that Jeremiah had power over the kingdoms, to root out and to pull 
"■^^'idown, &c. &c. ; for Gon gave it to him. We must likewise grant that Jeremiah 
Kfiexercised this powei', and did throw down and destroy kingdoms : otherwise God's 
.-purpose in raising him up would have failed. . The point then is, how, and in what 
way, did Jeremiah exercise this power, and throw down and destroy the kingdoms? 
There are but two ways. 1st — By being actively engaged in the battle in the day 
_.iof the falling of these kingdoms, and by his own act and deed destroying them; or, 
3ff2dly~By his declaring and pronouncing their downfall by the authority committed 
-to hira, and by proclaiming the word of destruction. That he pulled down and 
'destroyed the kingdoms in the first way, you must maintain : or contradict the 
^/icouncil of Trent. That he did it in the second way we maintain, and say, just so 
hath Christ given power to his ministers to remit sin ; but this power is only to 
be exercised by their declaring and pronouncing the absolution aixd remission of their 
sins to " all that truly repent, and unfeignedly believe his holy gospel." And the 
minister, pronouncing and declaring this absolution, may be said to absolve, in the 
same way that Jeremiah, declaring and pronouncing the downfall of nations and 
kingdoms, may be said,"and is said, to have pulled down, rooted out, and destroyed 
them 

' Another portion of scripture, to which I refer, is that which concerns the cleans- 
ing of the leper ; which is exactly parallel, as the leper typified the sinner defiled 
with sin. In Leviticus xiii. 3, 6, &c. " And the priest shall look upon him, and 
shall PRONOUNCE him unclean;" and again, " And the priest shall pronounce him 
clean." Here then we see, that the priest had only the power of deelai'ing and pro- 
nouncing, and not the power of killing or curing, of making clean or unclean : and 
yet in the 14th chap. 11th verse, the thing is said to be done by the priest : — 
" And the priest that maketh him clean," &c. &c. This is plain, and proves, that 
in the language of scripture a thing is said to be done by a person, when his doing 
it only consists in his declaring and pronouncing it. Apply this now, and you shall 
discover that we may use the words " I absolve," and yet maintain that the absolution 
is only declaratory, without agreeing with the impious doctrine of the council of 
Trent, or '^annihilating the book if Common Prayer.^' Pagers Letters to a Romish 
Priest [Ed.] 



360 



AN EXPOSITION QF^v 



ART. all that is promised upon owv faith must be understood of- 

faith so qualified as the gospel represents it; and therefoB©! 
that cannot be applied to this case^ where an unlimited aij-, 
thority is so particularly expressed^ that no condition seema 
to be implied in it. If any conditions are elsewhere laid 
upon us_, in order to our salvation^ then^ according to their 
doctrine^ we may say that of them which they say of contrirt i 
tion upon this occasion^ that they are necessary when weS 
cannot procure the priest^s pardon ; but that by it the want of 
them all may be supplied^ and that the obligation to them all 
is superseded by it:* and if any conditions are to be under- 
stood as limits upon this power, why are not all the con- 
ditions of the gospel, faith, hope, and charity, contrition and 
new obedience, made necessary, in order to the lawful dis- 
pensing of it, as well as confession, attrition, and the doing 
the penance enjoined? Therefore since no condition is here 
named as a restraint upon this general power, that is pre- 
tended to be given to priests by those words of our Saviouf^^ 
they must either be understood as simple and unconditional^^ 
or they must be limited to all the conditions that are ex>-= 
pressed in the gospel ; for there is not the colour of a reasaii! 
to restrain them to some of them, and to leave out the re^fs 
and thus we think we are fully justified by saying, that ¥y 
these words our Saviour did indeed fully empower the apas«'' 

* ' The absolution of the priest is, according to Trent, of such importance and< 
value, that it can, by some strange process, make attrition contrition, and save 
man vpho has only imperfect repentance, in which there is no love of God. The 
Lord Jesus Christ says, " Except ye repent, ye shall all likewise perish :" Trent 
says. If ye have even attrition, (i. e. imperfect repentance, arising from base mbi' ' 
tives, such as fear of hell, &c. ) ye shall surely be saved, if only ye can get the^., 
priest's absolution. You say, that contrition (perfect repentance) is indispensably 
necessary to give efficacy to the absolution. How can you assert this, when Trent 
lays down such soul-destroying doctrine as this, that attrition is sufficient, if 
person can get the priest's absolution ! ! ! This is such awful doctrine, that I shfbU, _ 
give your own authorities, lest any should conclude that I misrepresent your sys-" . 
tem. The council of Trent speaks thus : — " Illara vero contritionem imperfectam, ' 
quae attritio dicitur, quoniam vel ex turpitudinis peccati consideratione, vel ex 
gehennse et poenarum metu communiter concipitur, si voluntatem peccandi exclu- 
dat, cum spe venise; declarat non solum non facere hominem hypocritam, et magis 
peccatorem, verum, etiam donum Dei esse, et Spiritus sancti impulsum, non adhuc 
quidem inhabitantis, sed tantum moventis, quo penitens adjutus, viam sibi ad jus- 
titiam parat. Et quamvis sine sacramento poenitentiae per se ad justiiicationem 
perducere peccatorem ncqueat ; tamen eum ad Dei gratiam in sacramento pceui- 
tentise iiiipetrandum disponit." >Sess(o xiv. cap. 4. You must now have another 
statement of this doctrine, from the " Abridgment of Christian Doctrine" revised 
by Dr. Doyle. (See the article on penance.) " Q. What is attrition? A. It-is,, , 
imperfect contrition, arising from the consideration of the turpitude of sin, or fear 
of punishment ; and if it contain a detestation of sin with the hope of pardon, it is 
so far from being itself wicked, that though alone it justify not, yet it prepares the 
way to justification, and disposes us, at least remotely, towards obtaining God's , 
grace in the sacrament. Q. What, if a dying man be in mortal sin, and cannot 
have a priest ? A. Then nothing but perfect contrition will suffice, it being impb^i-^'^ 
sible to be saved without the love of God." So that, according to this impious 
doctrine, the absolution of the priest supplies the place of the love of God, which 
is lacking in attrition!! Need I say, that the church of England has too much 
respect for the character of God, and his truth, not to protest loudly against suefe'^^ 
a system as this ?' Pages Letters io a liomiJi Priest. — [Ed.] ii'v. 



THE X^X»M^M«1'ieiiEiS. 



361 



ties to publish his gospel W^thie wbrM 
terms of salvation^ and of obtaining the pardon of sin, in 
which they were to be infallibly assisted, so that they could 
not err in discharging their commission; and the terms of the ' 
covenant of grace being thus settled by them, all who were to 
succeed them were also empowered to go on with the publica- 
tion of this pardon and of those glad tidings to the world: so 
that whatsoever they declared in the name of God, cbnfornl - 
to the tenor of that which the apostles were to settle, should ^ 
be always made good. We do also acknowledge, that the 
pastors of the church have, in the way of censure and govern- 
ment, a ministerial authority to remit or to retain sins, as 
they are matters of scandal or offence; though that indeed 
does not seem to be the meaning of those words of our Sa- 
viour; and therefore we think that the power of pardoning ^, 
and retaining is only declaratory, so that all the exercises of ■ 
it are then only effectual, when the declarations of the pardon 
are made conform to the conditions of the gospel. This 
doctrine of ours, how much soever decried of late in the 
Roman church, as striking at the root of the priestly autho- 
rity, yet has been maintained by some of their best authors^ ■ 
and some of the greatest of their schoolmen. i 

Thus we have seen upon what reason it is that we do not 
conclude from hence, that auricular confession is necessary;'^ 
in which we think that we are fully confirmed by the practice 
of many of the ages of the Christian church, which did not 
understand these words as containing an obligation to secret 
confession. It is certain, that the practice and tradition of i 
the church must be rehed on here, if in any thing, since there 
was nothing that both clergy and laity were more concerned^'J 
both to know and to deliver down faithfully, than this, on ^ 
which the authority of the one, and the salvation of the other, 
depended so much. Such a point as this could never have 
been forgot or mistaken ; many and clear rules must have 
been given about it. It is a thing to which human nature 
has so much repugnancy, that it must, in the first forming of 
churches, have been infused into them as absolutely necessary 
in order to pardon and salvation. 

A church could not now be formed, according to the doc- 
trine and practice of the church of Rome, without very full 
and particular instructions, both to priests and people, con- 
cerning confession and absolution. It is the most intricate 
part of their divinity, and that which the clergy must be the 
most ready at. In opposition to all tliis, let it be considered, 
that though there is a great de?J said in the New Testament 
concerning sorrow for sin, repentance, and remission of sins, 
yet there is not a word said, nor a rule given, concerning con- 
fession to be made to a priest, and absolution to be given by 
him. There is indeed a passage in St. Jameses Epistle relat- j 
ing to confession ; but it is ^ to one another;' not restrained i 



362 i. AM IMXPQSJKI^N: OF 



ART. to the priest ; as I the ^ovd rendered faults seems to signify 
those offences by which others are wronged; in which case 
confession is a degree of reparation^ and so is sometimes ne- 
cessary: but whatever may be in this^ it is certain-, that the 
confession^ which is there appointed to be made, is a thing 
that was to be mutual among Christians ; and it is not com- 
manded in order to absolution^ but in order to the procuring 
the intercessions of other good men; and therefore it is 
added, and ^pray for one another/ By the words that fol- 
low, ^that ye may be healed,^ joined with those that went 
before concerning the sick, it seems the direction given by St. 
James belongs principally to sick persons; and the conclusion 
of the whole period shews, that it relates only to the private 
prayers of good men for one aYiother; '^^ the effectual fervent 
prayer of a righteous man availeth much so that this place 
does not at all belong to auricular confession or absolution. 

Nor do there any prints appear, before the apostacies that 
happened in the persecution of Decius, of the practice even 
of confessing such heinous sins as had been publicly commit- 
ted. Then arose the famous contests with the Novatians, 
concerning the receiving the lapsed into the communion of 
the church again. It was concluded not to exclude them 
from the hopes of mercy, or of reconciliation ; yet it was re- 
solved not to do that till they had been kept at a distance 
for some time from the holy communion ; at last they were 
admitted to make their confession, and so they were received 
to the communion of the church. This time was shortened, 
and many things were passed over, to such as shewed a deep 
and sincere repentance ; and one of the characters of a true 
repentance, upon which they were always treated with a great 
distinction of favour, was, if they came and first accused 
themselves. This shewed that they were deeply affected with 
the sense of their sins, when they could not bear the load of 
them, but became their own accusers, and discovered their 
sins. There are several canons that make a difference in the 
degrees and time of the penance, between those who had ac- 
cused themselves, and those against whom their sins were 
proved. A great deal of this strain occurs often in the writ- 
ings of the fathers, which plainly shews that they did not look 
on the necessity of an enumeration of all their sins as com- 
manded by God ; otherwise it would have been enforced with 
considerations of another nature, than that of shortening their 
penance. 

The first occasion that was given to the church to exercise 
this discipline, was from the frequent apostacies, into which 
many had lapsed during the persecutions ; and when these 
went off, another sort of disorders began to break in upon the 
church, and to defile it. Great numbers followed the ex- 
ample of their princes, and became Christians ; but a mixed 
multitude came among them, so that there were many scan- 



THE XX?XfX^MmCLES. 



363 



dais amonp^t that b6dy> wiiiftli Mad beeri formerly remarkable A R T. 
**^6r the purity of their morals^ and the strictness of their lives. XXV. 
" '-^It was the chief business of all those councils that met in tlie 
''%urth and fifth centuries^ to settle many rules concerning the 
ri^Segrees and time of penance, the censures both of the clergy 
"^^nd laity, the orders of the penitents and the methods of 
^/teceiving them to the communion of the church. In some of Dailaeus 
^|those councils they denied reconciliation after some sins, even ^.^ g^^^' 
'to the last, though the general practice was to receive all at rJnus'de °' 
''their death; but while they were in a good state of health, Poeniten- 
^ ^€hey kept them long in penance, in a public separation from t'^- 
the common privileges of Christians, and chiefly from the 
holy sacrament, and under severe rules, and that for several 
years, more or fewer, according to the nature of their sins, 
and the characters of their repentance ; of which a free and 
unextorted confession being one of the chief, this made many 
prevent that, and come in of their own accord to confess their 
^^^ins, which was much encouraged and magnified. 

Confession was at first made publicly; but the inconveni- 
••^^ncies of that appearing, and particularly many of those sins 
being capital, instead of a public, there was a private confes- 
sion practised. The bishops either attended upon these 
themselves, or they appointed a penitentiary priest to receive 
them : all was in order to the executing the canons, and for 
'keeping up the discipline of the church. Bishops were war- 
I'anted by the council of Nice to excuse the severity of the 
canons, as the occasion should require^ The penitents went 
^ through the penance imposed, which was done publicly; the 
'^^separation and penance being visible, even when the sin was 
''■^Icept secret; and when the time of the penance was finished, 
I^fhey received the penitents by prayer and imposition of 
'^^ijtands, into the communion of the church, and so they were 
'r^ deceived. This was all the absolution that was known during 
"^'^he first six centuries. 

jxiv Penitents were enjoined to publish such of their secret sins, 
"^•iis the penitentiary priest did prescribe. This happened to 

give great scandal at Constantinople, when Nectarius was Socr. Hist, 
bishop there; for a woman being in a course of penance, 1^* 
confessed publicly that she had been guilty of adultery, com- 
'^ mitted with a deacon in the church. It seems, by the relation 
that the historian gives of this matter, that she went beyond 
the injunction given her; but whether the fault was in her, 
or in the penitentiary priest, this gave such offence, that Nec- 
/ jfcarius broke that custom. And Chrysostom, who came soon thirteen 
' ' after him to that see, speaks very fully against secret confes- passages 
'''^^^ion, and advises Christians to confess only to God ; yet the ^]^^ him 
practice of secret confession was kept up elsewhere. But it gxpfabeli 
appears by a vast number of citations from the fathers, both by Daille 
in different ages, and in the different corners of the church, fie Conf. 
that though they pressed confession much, and magnified the 



364 



AN EXPOSITION OF 



ART. value of it Mghlyy yet they never urged it as necessary to the 
pardon of sin^ or as a sacrament; they only pressed it as a 
mean to complete the repentance^, and to give the sinner an 
interest in the prayers of the church. This maybe positively 
affirmed concerning all the quotations that are brought in this 
matter^ to prove that auricular confession is necessary ih 
order to the priest^s pardon^ and that it is founded on those 
words of Christy ^ Whose sins ye remit/ &c. that they prove 
quite the contrary ; that the fathers had not that sense of it^ 
but considered it^ either as a mean to help the completing of 
repentance^ or as a mean to maintain the purity of the Chris- 
tian churchy and the rigour of discipline. • ' ■ 

In the fifth century a practice begun^ which was 'nb i^all 
step to the ruin of the order of the church. Penitents were 
suffered^ instead of the public penance that had been formerly 
enjoined^ to do it secretly in some monastery^ or in any other 
private place^ in the presence of a few good men^ and that at 
the discretion of the bishop^ or the confessor ; at the end of 
which^ absolution was given in secret. This was done to 
draw what professions of repentance they could from such 
persons who would not submit to settled rules: this temper 
was found neither to lose them quite^ nor to let their sins ^ 
pass without any censure. But in the seventh century^ aU 
public penance for secret sins was taken quite away. Theo^ 
dore^ archbishop of Canterbury^ is reckoned the first of all 
the bishops of the western church that did quite take away aU 
public penance for secret sins. 

Another piece of the ancient severity was also slackenied^ 
for they had never allowed penance to men that had relapsed 
into any sin ; though they did not cut them off from all ho^e 
of the mercy of God^ yet they never gave a second absolution 
to the relapse. This the church of Rome has still kept up in 
one pointy Avhich is heresy ^ a relapse being delivered to the 
secular arm^ without admitting him to penance. The ancients 
did indeed admit such to penance, but they never reconciled 
them. Yet in tlie decay of discipline, absolution came to be 
granted to the relapse, as well as to him that had sinned but 
once. 

About the end of the eighth century, the commutation of 
penance began ; and, instead of the ancient severities, vocal 
prayers came to be all that was enjoined; so manj Paters 
stood for so many days of fasting, and the rich were admitted 
to buy off their penance under the decenter name of giving 
alms. The getting many masses to be said, was thought a 
devotion by which God was so much honoured, that the com- 
muting penance for masses was much practised. Pilgrimages 
and wars came on afterwards ; and in the twelfth century, the 
trade was set up of selling indulgences. By this it appears, 
that confession came by several steps into the church ; that in 
the first ages it was not heard of ; that the apostacies in time 



THE XXXIX ARTICLES. 



865 



of persecution gave tlie first rise to it : all which demonstrates ART. 
that the primitive church did not consider it as a thing XXV. 
appointed by Christ to be the matter of a sacrament. 

It may be in the power of the church to propose confes- 
sion^ as a mean to direct men in their repentance, to humble 
them deeper for their sins, and to oblige them to a greater 
strictness. But to enjoin it as necessary to obtain the pardon 
of sin, and to make it an indispensable condition, and indeed 
the most indispensable of all the parts of repentance, is be- 
yond the power of the church ; for since Christ is the Mediator 
of this new covenant, he alone must fix the necessary condi- 
tions of it. In this, more than in any thing else, we must 
conclude that the gospel is express and clear ; and therefore 
so hard a condition as this is cannot be imposed by any other 
authority. The obligation to auricular confession is a thing 
to which mankind is naturally so little disposed to submit, 
and it may have such consequences on the peace and order of 
the world, that we have reason to believe, that if Christ had 
intended to have made it a necessary part of repentance, he 
would have declared it in express words, and not have left it 
so much in the dark, that those who assert it, must draw it 
by inferences from those words, ^ Whose sins ye remit,^ &c. 
Some things are of such a nature, that we may justly conclude, 
that either they are not at all required, or that they are com- 
manded in plain terms, i 

As for the good or evil effects that may follow on the 
obliging men to a strictness in confession, that does not belong 
to this matter : if it is aclaiowledged to be only a law of the 
church, other considerations are to be examined about it; but 
if it is pretended to be a law of God, and apart of a sacrament, 
we must have a divine institution for it ; otherwise all the 
advantages that can possibly be imagined in it, -without tliat, 
are only so many arguments to persuade us, that there is 
somewhat that is highly necessary to the purity of Christians, 
of which Christ has not said a word, and concerning which 
his apostles have given us no directions. We do not deny 
but it may be a mean to strike terror in people, to keep them 
under awe and obedience ; it may, when the management of it 
is in good hands, be made a mean to keep the world in order, 
and to guide those of weaker judgments more steadily and 
safely, than could be well done any other way. In the use of 
confession, when proposed as our church does, as matter of 
advice, and not of obligation, we are very sensible many good 
ends may be attained ; but while we consider those, we must 
likewise reflect on the mischief that may arise out of it ; espe- 
cially supposing the greater part both of the clergy and laity 
to be what they ever were, and ever will be, depraved and 
corrupted. The people will grow to think that the priest is 
in God's stead to them ; that their telling their sins to him, 
is as if they confessed them to God; they will expect to be. 



AN Ext^si*ri6N 



ART. easily discharged' fAf ji' gentle periaVice; Vitf^ W^ji^edy absoiu- 
tion ; and this will make them as secure^ as if their consciences 
were clear^ and their sins pardoned ; so the remedy being easy 
and always at hand^ they will be encouraged to venture thfe 
more boldly on sin. It is no difficult matter to gain a priest^ 
especially if he himself is a bad man^ to use them tender!^ 
upon those occasions. On the other hand^ corrupt priests 
will find their account in the dispensing this great power^ so 
as to serA^e their own ends. They will know all people's 
tempers and secrets ; and how strict soever they may make 
the seal of confession^ to draw the world to trust to it; yet iti 
bodies so knit together^ as communities and orders are, it is 
not possible to know what use they make of this. Still they 
know all themselves, and see into the weakness, the passions, 
and appetites, of their people. This must often be a great 
snare to them, especially in the supposition that cannot be 
denied to hold generally true, of their being bad men them- 
selves : great advantages are hereby given to infuse fears and 
scruples into people's minds, who, being then in their ten- 
derest minutes, will be very much swayed and wrought on by 
them. A bad priest knows by this whom he may tempt tb; 
any sort of sin : and thus the good and the evil of confessioii^' 
as it is a general law upon all men's consciences, being" 
weighed one against the other; and it being certain that the 
far greater part of mankind is always bad, we must conclude 
that the evil does so far preponderate the good, that they bear 
no cornparison or proportion to one another. The matter at 
present under debate is only whether it is one of the laws of 
God, or not? and it is enough for the present purpose to 
shew, that it is no lavs^ of God; upon which we do also see 
very good reason why it ought not to be made a law of the 
church ; both because it is beyond her authority, which can 
only go to matters of order and discipline, as also because of 
the vast inconveniencies that are like to arise out of it. 

The next part of repentance is contrition, which is a sorrow 
for sin upon the m.otives of the love of God, and the hatred 
of sin joined with a renovation of heart. This is that which 
we acknowledge to be necessary to complete our repentance; 
but this consisting in the temper of a man's mind, and his 
inward acts, it seems a very absurd thing to make this the 
matter of a sacrament, since it is of a spiritual and invisible 
nature. But this is not all that belongs to this head. 

The casuists of the church of Rome have made a distinction 
between a perfect and an imperfect contrition ; the imperfect 
they call attrition ; which is any sorrow for sin, though upon » 
an inferior motive, such as may be particular to one act of sin, 
as when it rises from the loss or shame it has brought with 
it, together with an act formed in detestation of it, without a 
resolution to sin no more. Such a sorrow as this is they 
teach does make the sacrament effectual, and puts a man in a 



THE XXXIX ARTICLES. 



367 



state of justification^, though they acknowledge that without ART. 
the sacrament it is not sufficient to justify him, XXY . 

This was settled by the council of Trent.* We think it xhcI. Sess. 
strikes at the root of all religion and virtue^, and is a reversing 14. c. 4. 
of the design for which sacraments were instituted^ which was 
to raise our minds to a high pitch of piety^ and to exalt and 
purify our acts. We think the sacraments are profaned when 
we do not raise our thoughts as high as we can in them. To 
teach men how low they may go^ and how small a measure 
will serve turn, especially when the great and chief command- 
mentj the consideration of the love of God, is left out, seems 
to be one of the greatest corruptions in practice of which any 
church can be guilty ; a slackness in doctrine, especially in so 
great a point as this, in which human nature is under so fatal 
a bias, will always bring with it a much greater corruption in 
practice. This will indeed make many run to the sacrament^ 
and raise its value ; but it will rise upon the ruins of true 
piety and holiness. There are few men that can go long on 
in very great- sins without feeling great remorses ; these are 
to them rather a burden that they cannot shake off, than a 
virtue. Sorrow lying long upon their thoughts may be the 
beginning of a happy change, and so prove a great blessing to 
them: all which is destroyed by this doctrine : for if under 
such uneasy thoughts they go to confession, and are attrite, 
tlie sacrament is valid, and they are justified : then the un- 
easiness goes off, and is turned into joy, without their being 
any thing the better by it. They return to their sins with a 
new calm and security, because they are taught that their sins 
are pardoned, and that all scores are cleared. Therefore we 
conclude, that this doctrine wounds religion in its vitals ; and 
we are confirmed in all this by what appears in practice, and 
what the best writers that have lived in that communion have 
said of the abuses that follow on the methods in which this 
sacrament is managed among them, which do arise mainly out 
of this part of their doctrine concerning attrition. All that 
they teach concerning those acts of attrition, or even contri- 
tioUy is also liable to great abuse in practice : for, as a 
man may bring forth those acts in words, and not be the 
better for them ; so he may force himself to think them, 
which is nothing but the framing an inward discourse within 
himself upon them ; and yet these not arising genuinely from 
a new nature, or a change of temper, such acts can be of no 
value in the sight of God : yet the whole practice of their 
church runs upon these acts, as if a man's going through 
them, and making him seK think them, could be of great value 
in the sight of God. 

The ^hird, branch of the matter of this sacrament is the 

* For this decree, see note, p. 360. — [Ed.") 



368 



AN EXPOSITION OF 



ART. satisfaction, or the doing the penance ; which, by the constant 
practice of the church for above twelve centuries, was to be 
performed before absolution could be given ; except in extra- 
ordinary cases, such as death, or martyrdom; but in these 
latter ages, in which the necessity of confession is carried 
higher, the obligation to satisfaction or the doing of penance 
is let fall lower. A distinction is invented by which confes- 
sion and contrition, attrition at least, are made essential parts 
of the sacrament, without which there is no sacrament; as 
soul and body are essential to the being of a man ; and satis- 
faction is considered only as an integral part; such as an e5'e 
or a limb in a man, which is necessary to the order of it, but 
not to its being. If satisfaction is considered as that which 
destroys the habits of sin, and introduces the habits of virtue ; 
if it is purgative and medicinal, and changes a man's princi- 

■fji I7 pies and nature, then it ought to be reckoned the principal 
^ and least dispensable thing of all repentance. For our con- 
A fessing past sins, and sorrowing for them, is only enjoined us 

; ' - as a mean to reform and purify our nature. If we imagine 
that our acts of repentance are a discounting with God, by so 

' ' many pious thoughts whish are to be set against so many 

11 iji bad ones, this will introduce a sort of mechanical religion ; 
I which wiU both corrupt our ideas of God, and of the nature 

pa,thi The true and generous notion of religion is, that it is a 
, system of many truths, which are of such efficacy, that if 
we receive them into our minds, and are governed by them, 
they will rectify our thoughts, and purify our natures; and 
by making us like God here, they will put us in a sure way to 
enjoy him eternally hereafter. Sorrow for past sins, and all 
reflections upon them, are enjoined us as means to make the 
sense of them go so deep in our minds, as to free us from 
all those bad habits that sin leaves in us, and from those iii 
inclinations that are in our nature. If we therefore set up a 
sorrowing for sin as a merchandise with God, by so many acts 
of one kind to take off the acts of another, here the true de- 

c-a.; '- sign of our sorrow is turned into a trafficking, by which how 
much soever priests may gain, or the value of sacraments may 
seem to rise, religion will certainly lose in its main design, 
which is the planting a new nature in us, and the making 
us become like God. Confession and contrition are previous 
acts, that lead to this reformation, which, as they teach, is 
wrought by the satisfaction; therefore we must needs con- 
r. demn that doctrine Avhich makes it less necessary and more 
dispensable than the other. In the case of death we confess 
all the rights of the church with relation to a man's scandals, 
and his obligations to make public penance, may and ought to 
be then forgiven him ; but we think it one of the most fatal 
errors that can creep into any church, to encourage men to 



THE XXXIX xYRTICLES. 



3G9 



rely on a death-bed repentance. The nature of man leans so ART. 
much this way, that it is necessary to bend the point as 
strong as may be to the other hand. 

The promises of the gospel run all upon the condition of 
repentance ; which imports a renovation of the inner man, and 
a purity of life : so that no repentance can be esteemed true, 
but as we perceive that it has purified our hearts, and changed 
our course of life. What God may do with death-bed peni- 
tents, in the infinite extent and absoluteness of his mercy, 
becomes not us to define: but we are sure he has given no 
promises to such persons in his gospel. And since the func- 
tion of clerg)Tiien is the dispensing of that, we cannot go 
beyond the limits set us in it : so there is no reason to make 
this part of repentance less necessary or obligatory than the 
other, but very much to the contrary. Another exception 
that we have to the allowed practice of that church, is the 
giving absolution before the satisfaction is made; upon its 
being enjoined and accepted by the penitent. This is so 
contrary to all ancient rules, that it were a needless labour to 
go to prove it ; the thing being confessed by all : and yet the 
practice is so totally changed among them, that such as have 
blamed it, and have attempted to revive the ancient method, 
have been censured as guilty of an innovation, savouring of 
heresy : because they condemn so general a practice, that it 
would render the infallibility of the church very doubtful, if 
it should be pretended to have erred in so universal a 
practice. 

Hasty absolutions, contrary both to the whole design of the 
gospel, and to the constant practice of the church, for at least 
twelve centuries, are now the avowed methods of that church; 
to which in a great measure all that corruption of morals that 
is among them owes its rise and continuance : for who can 
be supposed to set himself against those inclinations to sin, 
that are deeply rooted in his nature, and are powerfully re- 
commended by the pleasure and gain that arises out of vicious 
practices, if the way to pardon is cast so vn.de open, that a 
man may sin as long and as securely as he will, and yet all 
at once, upon a few acts that he makes himself go through, he 
may get into a state of grace, and be pardoned and justified ? 
The power that is left to the priest to appoint the penance, 
is a trust of a high nature, which yet is known to be univer- 
sally ill applied; so that absolution is generally prostituted 
among them. 

The true penance enjoined by the gospel is the forsaking of 
sin, and the doing acts of virtue. Fasting, prayers, and alms- 
giving, are acts that are very proper means to raise us to this 
temper. If fasting is joined with prayer, and if prayer arises 
out of an inward devotion of mind, and is serious and fervent, 
then we know that it has great efficacy ; as being one of the 

2 B 



370 



^-:^N ^EXPOSITION OF 



A R T. chief acts of our religious service of God, to which the greatest 
promises are made, and upon which the best blessings do 
descend upon us. Alms-giving is also a main part of charity: 
which, when done from a right principle of loving God and; 
our neighbour, is of great value in his sight. But if fasting is 
only an exercise of the body, and of abstaining so long, 
and from such things, this may perhaps trouble and pain the 
body ; but bodily exercise profiteth nothing ; so not to menr 
tion the mockery of fasting, when it is only a delay of eating^j 
after which all liberties are taken, or an abstinence which if t 
made up with other delicious and inflaming nutritives, these? 
are of no value, being only inventions to deceive men, and to 
expose religion to mockery. But even severe and afflicting 
fasting, if done only as a punishnient, which, when it is over, 
the penance is believed to be completed, gives such a low 
idea of God and religion^ that from thence men are led to 
think very sHghtly of sin, when they know at what price they 
can carry it off. Such a continuance in fasting in order to 
prayer, as humbte and depresses nature^ and raises the mind, 
is a great mean to reform the world; but fasting as a pre- 
scribed task to expiate our sins is a scorn put upon religion. 

Prayer, when it arises from a serious heart that is earnest 
in it, and when it becomes habitual, is certainly a most 
effectual mean to reform the world, and to fetch down divine 
assistances. But to appoint so many vocal prayers to be gone 
through as a task ; and then to tell the world that the runnings 
through these^ with few or no inward ucts aceompanying them^/ 
is contrition or attrition, this is more like a design to root out 
all the impressions of religion, and all sense of that repentance 
which the gospel requires, than to promote it. This may bei 
a task fit to accustom children to ; but it is contrary to the 
true genius of religion, to teach men, instead of that reasonable : 
service that we ought to offer up to God, to give him only the i 
labour of the lips, which is the sacrifice of fools. Prayers gonei 
through as a task can be of no value, and can find no accep-»^ 
iCor. xiii. tation in the sight of God. And as St. Paul said, that 'if 
1. 2, 3. he gave all his goods to the poor, and had not charity, he was 
nothing;^ so the greatest profusion of alms-giving, when done 
in a mercenary way, to buy off and to purchase a pardon, is . 
the turning of God's house from being a house of pray^f^ to 
he den of thieves. ivm*. 

Upon all these reasons we except to the whole doctrine 
and practice of the church of Rome, as to the satisfaction 
made by doing penance. And in the last place we except to 
the form of absolution in these words, I absolve thee. We of 
this church, who use it only to such as are thought to be near 
death, cannot be meant to understand any thing by it, but the 
full peace and pardon of the church: for if we meant a pardon 
with relation to God, we ought to use it upon many other oc- 
casions. The pardon that we give in the name of God is only 



THi^ XXXIX ARTICLES. 



declarato]y x)f hife^''pa?rdo^rt, supplicatoty in a prayer to him A^'^ 
for pardon'^^cf I'-sa jr; j aoirfvf noqi/ bni? .abfifo oiq 

In this have the whole practice df ther church till the* 
twelfth century universally of our side. All the fathers^ all 
t^e ancient Uturgies^ all that have writ upon the offices^ and 
the first schoolmen, are so express in this matter, that th^' 
thing in fact cannot be denied. Morinus has published sd[ 
many of their old rituals, that he has put an end to all doubt- 
ing about it. In the twelfth century some few began to use ' 
the words, / absolve thee : yet, to soften this expression, that' 
seemed new and bold, some tempered it mth these words, m 
so far as it is granted to my frailty ; and others with these 
words, as far as the accusation comes from thee, and as ihe 
pardon is in me. Yet this form was but little practised : so^^ 
that William, bishop of Paris, speaks of the form of absolution"; 
as given only in aprayer, and not as given in these words, 
absolve thee. He lived in the beginning of the fourteenth^ 
century ; so that this^ractice, though iegun in other places^^ 
before that time, yet was not known long after in so public ai 
city as Paris. But sOme schoolmen began to defend it, as^ 
implying only a declaration of the pardon pronounced by the^ 
priest; and this having an air of more authority, and being 
once justified by learned men, did so universally prevail, that 
in little more than sixty years^ time, it became the universal^^ 
practice of the whole Latin church. So sure a thing is tradi^ 
tion, and so impossible to be changed, as they pretend, when 
within the compass of One age, the new form, I absolve thee^ 
was not so much as generally known; and before the end of- 
it the old form of doing it in a prayer, with imposition of 
hands, was quite worn out. The idea that arises naturally out 
of these words is, that the priest pardons sins ; and since that 
is subject to such abuses, and has let in so mucli corruptiort 
upon that church, we think we have reason not only to deny 
that penance is a sacrament, but likewise to affirm, that they 
have corrupted this great and important doctrine of repent- 
ance, in all the parts and branches of it: nor is the matter' .Hix .loD I 
mended with that prayer that follows the absolution ; The -^^^^^-^^ 
passioti of our Lord Jesus Christ, the merits of the blessed Vir- Romanum 
gin and all the mints, and all the good that thou hast done, and 
the evil that thou hast suffered, be to thee for the remission _o^P^"'^^"^- 
sin^, the increase of grace, and the reward of eternal life. 

The third sacrament rejected by this Article is Orders ; 
which is reckoned the sixth by the church of Rome. We- 
affirm, that Christ appointed a succession of pastors in dif-^ 
ferent ranks, to be continued in his church, for the Work of' 
the gospel, and the care of souls : and that, as the apostles - 
settled the churches, they appointed different orders of bishops, 
priests, and deacons : and we beHeve that all who are dedicated" 
to serve in these ministries, after they are examined and 
judged worthy of them, ought to be separated to them by the 

2 B 2 



^ tl i]fti'fyS6«lti?w^ of ^mdti, m6^hf TpJ^^i)fW[iese m^& the mlj ritm 
^_^ Y: that we find praetised by the apostles. For many ages th,^ 
church of God used tio other ; therefore we acknowledge that 
bishops, priests, and deacons^ ought to be blessed and dedicated 
to the holy ministry by imposition of hands and prayer ; and 
that then they are received according to the order and practaiQ^ 
settled by the apostles to serve in their respective degrgj^^iji 
Men thus separated have thereby authority to. perfect t^if 
saints or Christians^ that is^, to perform^ ^cthe sacred functioi^s 
among them^ to minister to them^ and to build them 
in their most holy faith. - ^ And we think n@,i other pers0ns^ 
without such a separation and consecration'^ can lawfully 
touch the holy things. In all which we se]:>arate the qualife- 
cations of the function from the inward i qualities of tbe;^©^ 
son ; the one not at all depending* , on theactj^r;; thelf)!5i|g 
relating only to the order and the go®^d gcteftniftent of t^ 
society^ and the other relating indeed) to ; :thf^-sa;lvation^f^ 
him that officiates, but not at all to the vahdity of liis offig^ 
ior service. nis 
I' But in all this we see nothing like a sacrament: here j^ 
%either matte?-, form, wor institutiom ; here is only, prayer : tbe 
laying on of hands is only a gesture in prayer, that imports 
Haberti ^lic designation of the person so prayed over. In the Greek 
Grfficiim. church there is indeed a different form ; for though there ape 
Morinusde pl*ayers in their office of Ordination, yet the words that do aq- 
Ordinat. company the imposition of hands are Only declaratory; The 
sacris. grace of God, that perfects the feeble and heals the weak, pm- 
motes this man to be u deacon, a priest, or a bishop ; let 
us therefore pray for him : by which they pretend only 
judge of a divine vocation : all the ancient rituals, and aU those 
that treat of them for the first seven centuries, speak of 
nothing as essential to orders but prayer and imposition qf 
hands. It is true, many rites came to be added, and many 
prayers were used that went far beyond the first simplicity. 
But in the tenth or eleventh century a new form was brought 
in, of delivering the vessels in ordaining priests ; and words 
were joined with that, giving them power to offer sacrifices to 
God, and to celebrate masses, and then the orders were 
beheved to be given by this rite. The delivering of the ves- 
sels looked like a matter, and these words were thought 
the form of the sacrament; and the prayer that was formerly 
used with the imposition of hands, was indeed still used, but 
only as a part of the office ; no hands were laid on when it 
was used : and though the form of laying on of hands was still 
continued, the bishop with other priests laying their hands on 
those they ordained, yet it is now a dumb ceremony, not 
a word of a prayer being said while they lay on their hands. 
So that though both prayer and imposition of hands are used 
in the office, yet they are not joined together. In the con- 
clusion of the office, a new benediction was added ever since 



Tm mmKwmioiMs. 



th^' - tl^etfthr' fcanttaary. ^ The bishop' alone lays on his hand§j 
saying. Receive the Holy Ghost : ivhose sins ye remit, they are ■rr^f 
remitted; and whose sins ye retai/m, they are retained. The """" 
numbet' s6ven was thought to suit the sacraments best, so 
Orders were made one of them, and of these only priesthood; 
where the vessels were declared to be the matter, and the form 
was the delivering them with the words,. T^^e thou authority 
to offer up saeHfices to God, and to celebrate masses, both for 
the living and the dead; in the name of the Father, the Son, and 
the Holy Ghost, 

The schoolmen have taken a new way of explaining this 
whole matter, borrowed from the eucharist, that is made up 
of two parts, the consecration of the bread and of the wine 5 
i)oth so necessary, that without the one the other become;^ 
^void: so they teach that a priest has two powers, of conse? 
crating and oi absolving; and that he is ordained to the one 
^y the delivery of the vessels, and to the other by the bishop's 
laying on of hands> with tbe words i?em?;e the Holy Ghost; 
and they make the bishop and the priest's laying on of hands 
jointly, to be only their declaring as by a suffrage, that such 
a person ought to be ordained ; so totally have they departed 
from the primitive forms. 

If this is a sacrament, and if the sacrament consists in this ofiii 
•Matter and form by them assigned, then since all the rituals 
^of the Latin church for the first ten centuries had no such^^'gy^^Jj^ 
^orm of ordaining priests, this cannot be the matter and form jjsnibiO 
sacrament : otherwise the church had in a course of so -^hoBa 
^feaany ages no true orders, nor any sacrament in them. Nor 
^%ill it serve in answer to this to say^ that Christ instituted no 
j9S]3ecial m«^/er nor /o/m here, but has left the specifying those 
lamong the other powers that he has given to his church : 
'\for a sacrament being an institution of applying matter de- 
Ysigned by God, by a particular jfom likewise appointed; to 
< say that Gkrist appointed here neither matter nor form, js 
plainly to confess that this is no sacrament. In the first nine 
or ten ages there was no matter at all used, nothing but an 
^imposition of hands with prayer : so that by this doctrine the 
s church of God Avas all that while without true orders, since 
' there was nothing used that can be caUed the matter of a 
i^acrament. 

' ^Therefore, though we continue this institution of Christ, 
iijsk he and his apostles settled it in the church, yet we deny it 
iito be a sacrament ; we also deny all the inferior orders to be 
sacred beloTt^ that of deacon. The other orders we do not 
deYiy 'might be weU, and on good reasons, appointed by the 
church as steps through which clerks might be made to pass, 
in order to a stricter examination and trial of them; like 
b degrees in universities : but the making them, at least the 
subdiaconate, sacred, as it is reckoned by pope Eugenius, is, 
we think, beyond the power of the church ; for here a degree 



B74 



AN EXPOSITION ttfT 



'bf&orders is inade a sacrament;, and yet that dSffe^^St 
named in the scripture^ nor in the first ages. It is true,% 
came to be soon used with the other inferior orders ; but 
it cannot be pretended to be a sacrament_, since no divine in- 
stitution can be brought for it. And we cannot but observe, 
that in the definition that Eugenius has given of the sacra- 
ments, which is an authenticai piece in the Roman church, 
where he reckons priests^ deacons, and subdeacons, as belong- 
ing to the sacrament of orders, he does not name bishops, 
though their being of divine institution is not questioned in 
that church. Perhaps the spirit with which they acted at that 
time in Basil offended him so much, that he was more set on 
depressing than on raising them. In the council of Trent, in 
wluch so much zeal appeared for recovering the dignity of the 
episcopal order, at that time so much eclipsed by the papal 
usurpations, when the sacrament of or cfers^ was treated of, 
they reckon seven degrees of them, the highest of which is 
that of priest. So that though they decreed that a bishop 
was by the divine institution above a priest, yet they did not 
decree that the office was an ol"der, or a sacrament. And the 
schoolmen do generally explain episcopate, as being a higher 
degree or extension of priesthood, rather than a new order, or 
a sacrament ; the main thing in their thoughts being that 
which, if true, is the greatest of all miracles, the wonderful 
conversion made in transubstantiation, they seem to think 
that no order can be above that which qualifies a man for' so 
great a performance. 

I say nothing in this place concerning the power of offering 
sacrifices, pretended to be givei;! in orders 5 for that belongs 

to another Article. '^.^^'^^^^'^^JfV^ i^^d^^ 

The fourth sacrament here'r^pcte9^s"Jfa?T&<^^ 
reckoned the last by the Roman account. In the point of 
argument there is less to say here than in any of the other ; 
but there seems to be a very express warrant for calling it a 
Ephes.v. sacrament, from the translation of a passage in St. Paul's 
Epistle to the Ephesians, in which he makes an allusion, 
while he treats of marriage, to the mutual relation that is be- 
tween Christ and his church, from that state of life, and says, 
^ There is a great mystery here the Vulgar has translated the 
word mystery by sacrament. So though the words imme- 
diately foUowhig seem to turn the matter another way, ^ but I 
speak concerning Christ and the church;' yet from the pro- 
miscuous use of those two words, and because sacraments 
were called the mysteries of the Christian religion, the trans- 
lator, it seems, thought that all mysteries might be called 
sacramejits. But it is so very hard here to find matter, formy 
a mi7iister, and a sacramental effect, that though pope Euge- 
nius, in that famous decree of his, is very punctual in assigning 
these, when he explains the other sacraments ; yet he wisely 



THE XXXIX ARTICLES. 375 



passed them all aver when he came to this^ and only i^aakes a ART. 
J t:nie consent necessary to the making the sacrament, tiormn 

We do not deny marriage to be an ordinance of God ; but ~ ~ 
we think that as it was at first made in the state of innocence, 
so it is still founded on the law of nature ; and though the 
gospel gives rules concerning the duties belonging to this state 
of life, as it does concerning the duties of parents and children, 
which is another relation founded on the same law of nature, 
jet we cannot call it a sacrament ; for we find neither matter, 
''Jform, institution, nor federal acts, nor effects assigned to it in 
^tlie gospel, to make us esteem it a sacrament. 
^, The 7?ifl^^er assigned by the Roman doctors is the inward 
Jsonsent, by which both parties do mutually give themselves 
io one another : the/brm they make to be the words or signs, 
^y which this is expressed. Now* it seems a strange thing 
io make the secret thoughts of men the matter, and their 
';v\'ords the form of a sacrament ; aU mutual compacts being as 
^jnuch sacraments as this, there being no visible material things 
apphed to the parties who receive them ; which is necessary 
to the being of a sacrament. It is also a very absurd opinion, 
^which may have very fatal consequences, and raise very 
.jafflicting scruples, if any should imagine that the inward con- 
^sent is the matter of this sacrament ; here is a foundation laid 
i^Pwn for voiding every marriage. The parties may and often 
^^o marry against their wills ; and though they profess an out- 
ward consent, they do inwardly repine against what they are 
doing. If after this they grow to like their marriage, scruples 
must arise, since they know they have not the sacrament ; 
;iecause it is a doctrine in that church, that as intention is 
necessary in every sacrament, so here that goes further, the 
^intention being the only matter of this sacrament ; so that 
^without it there is no marriage, and yet since they cannot be 
married again to complete, or rather to make the marri^^G^ 
^.such persons do live only in a state of concubinage. 

On the other hand, here is a foundation laid down for v^g^^iqa 
l)reaking marriages as often as the parties, or either of them, 
%ill solemnly swear that they gave no inward consent, which 
is often practised at Rome. All contracts are sacred things ; 
^:but of them all, marriage is the most sacred, since so much 
^depends upon it. Men's words, confirmed by oaths and 
^ther solemn acts, must either be binding according to the 
plain and acknowledged sense of them, or aU the security and 
^confidence of mankind is destroyed. No man can be safe if 

f t Upon the whole doctrine of the church of Rome, concerning the sacraments, 
}^a& it-is explained by the schoolmen, I have followed the account given by Hono- 

ratus Fabri, in his Summa Theologica, who is dead within these ten years. I knew 
-him at Rome, anno 1685. He was a true philosopher, beyond the liberties allowed 

by his order, and studied to reduce their school-divinity to as clear ideas as it was 
v^japable of. So that in following him I have given the best, and not the worst, face 
"trf their doctrine. His book was printed at Lyons, aiino 1669. ^ , , f - 



Aiv^i thM rprificiple k ^Onc^ admitted j^tliatv a m^ not b®und hy \ 
^ ' his promises and oaths, unless his inward consent went along 
~ with them: and if such a fraudulent thing may be applied to 
marriages^ in which so many persons are concerned, and upon 
which the order of the world does so much depend^ it may be 
very justly applied to all other contracts whatsoever, so that 
they may be- voided at pleasure. A man's words and oaths 
bind him by the eternal laws of fidehty and truth ; and it is 
a just prejudice against any religion whatsoever, if it shoul^i 
teaeb a doctrine in which, by the secret reserves of not giving 
an inward consent, the faith wbich is solemnly given may be 
broken. Here such a door is open to perfidy and treachery^ 
that the world can be no longer safe while it is allowed; 
hereby lewd and vicious persons may ent^ingie others, and in 
the mean while order their own thoughts rS^^jtfeat tlj^y/ sj^^l},^ ^ 
be; all the while free. s^^.qiii/sm lo bud sd^ 

Next to matter and f 07171, we must see foi <t|ie institution [ > 
of'this sacrament. The cburch of Rome think that is strong 
here, though they feel it to be hardly defensible in the other 
points that relate to it. They tliink that though marriage, as 
it is a mutual contract, subsists upon the law of nature, yet a 
divine virtue is put in it by the gospel, expressed in these 
words, This is a great mystery^ or sacrament;' so the 
.V explaining these words determines this controversy. The 
chief point in dispute at that time was, whether the Gentiles 
were to be received to equal privileges with the Jews, in the 
dispensation of the Messias. The Jews do not to this day 
i i.xiir deny, but that the Gentiles may be admitted to it; but still 
9i; they think that tbey are to be considered as a distinct body, 
and in a lower order, the chief dignity being to be reserved to 
the seed of Abraham. Now St. Paul had in that Epistle, as 
well as in his other Epistles, asserted, that all were equal in 
Christ ; that he had taken away the ' middle wall of partition f 
that he had abolished the ground of the enmity, which was 
Eph.ii.i5, the Mosaical law, called ^ the law of commandments contained 
16, 20, 21. ordinances ; that he might make both Jew and Gentile one 
new man one entire body of a church ; ' he being the chief 
corner-stone, in whom the whole building was fitly framed 
together : and sp became a holy habitation to God.' Thus he 
made use of the figure of a body, and of a temple, to illustratft,!^ 
this matter ; and to shew how all Christians were to make upfj 
but one body, and one church. So when he came to speak of; 
the rules belonging to the several states of human life, h%o 
takes occasion to explain the duties of the married state, l^yol 
comparing that to the relation that the church has to Chris;^-|.fi 
and when he had said that the married couple make but an^i. 
body and one flesh ; which declares that, according to the first 
^ , [i, . mstitution, every man was to have but one wife; he adds 
upon that, this is a great mystery:^ that is, from hence 
another mystical argument might be brought, to shew that 



Je^^nd Gentile' Miiist^rtiak^^t^ 'te^^Mr^ll ^A li lt ^ 

was 'the spouse of Christ, he must, according to that figure, >^xV. 
hare but one wife ; and by consequence the church must be * 
one : otherwise the figure will not be answered ; unless we 
suppose Christ to be in a state answering a polygamy, rather 
than a single marriage. Thus a clear account of these words 
is given, which does fully agree to them, and to what followsy ^^ 
' but I speak concerning Christ and the church/ . '^'J 
This, Avhich is all the foundation of making marriage 4 ^ 
sacrament, being thus cleared, there remains nothing to b69^ 
said on this head, but to examine one consequence, that has -'^^ 
been draAvn from the making it a sacrament, which is, that id 
thie bond is indissoluble ; and that even adultery does not void^^ 
it. The law of nature or of nations seems very clear, that^d 
adultery, at least on the: wife's party should dissolve it : for^i 
the end of marriage being the ascertaining 'of the issue, and?^^ 
th# contract itself being a mutual transferrin^g the riglit to one 
another's person, in order to that end ; the breaking this'io 
contract and destroying the end of marriage does very natu- 
rally infer the dissolution of the bond: and in this both the 
Attic and Roman laws were so severe, that a man was infamous 
who did not divorce upon adultery. Our Saviour, when he 
blamed the Jews for their frequent divorces, established thi^'V/' 
rule, ^ that whosoever puts away his wife, except it be foT-^att. v. 
fornication, and shall marry another, committeth adultery.' 
Which seems to be a plain and Ml determination, that in th&W^^^' 
ca^e of fornication^ he ttiay put her away and marry another^^^^ 
It is true, St. Mark and St. Luke repeat these words, without Mukx.i i 
mentioning this exception; so some have thought that ^e |-^^^'^' 
ought to bring St. Matthew to them, and not them to St. * 
Matthew. But it is an universal rule of expounding scrip- 
tures, that when a place is fully set down by one inspired 
writer, and less fully by another, that the place which is less 
full is always to be expounded by that which is more full. 
So though St. Mark and St. Luke report our Saviour's words ^ ^'^^-^"'"^'1 
generally, without the exception, which is twice mentioned ° ' ' 
by St. Matthew, the other two are to be understood to sup- 
pose it; for a general proposition is true when it holds 
generally ; and exceptions may be understood to belong to it, 
though they are not named. The Evangelist that does name 
them must be considered to have reported the matter more 
particularly, than the others that do it not. Since then our 
Saviour has made the exception, and since that exception is 
founded upon a natural equity, that the innocent party has 
against the guilty, there can be no reason why an exception 
so justly grounded, and so clearly made^ should not take 
place. 

Both Tertullian, Basil, Chrysostom, and Epiphanius, allow TertuU.lib. 
of a divorce in case of adultery; and in those days they had 'v. com. 
no other notion of a divorce, but that it was the dissolution of f 34'°"* 



378 



the bond ; 'tK^^Mte' notion of a se^^ktibi^, the tie continuing, 
' not being known till the canonists brought it in. Such a 

Basil. Ep. divorce was allowed by the council of Elliberis. The cotincil 
adAmphil. of Arles did indeed recommend it to the husband, whose wife 
Chr sos giiilty of adultery, not to marry; which did plainly 

Horn. 17, acknowledge that he might do it. It was, and still is, the 
in Matt, constant practice of the Greek church ; and as both pope 
Hffifes 59 Grregory and pope Zachary allowed the innocent person to 
Cath. ' ' niarry, so in a synod held at Rome in the tenth century, it 
Cone. was stiU allowed. When the Greeks were reconciled to the 
Cone aS' Latins in the council of Florence, this matter was passed over, 
c.io.Conc. and the care of it was only recommended by the pope to the 
Afrie. c. empcror. It is true, Eugenius put it in his instruction to the 
69. Causa Armenians ; but though that passes generally for a part of the 
In deer.* council of Florence, yet the council was over and up before 
Eng. in that was given out. 

Erasnf This doctrine of the indissolubleness of marriage^ even for 
1 Ep. ad adultery, was never settled in any council before that of Trent. 
Cor. vii. The canonists and schoolmen had indeed generally gone into 
Mat^^xi-" that opinion; but not only Erasmus, but both Gajetan and 
c. 9. Catherinus declared themselves for the lawfulness of it : Ca- 
Cathar. in jetan indeed used a salvo, in case the church had otherwise 
CcK^vil^r ^^^^^^^ which did not then appear to him. So that this 
5. Annot. 'is a doctrine very lately settled in the church of Rome. 

Our reformers here had prepared a title in the new body of 
■the canon law, which they had digested, allowing marriage 
• to the innocent party ; and upon a great occasion, then 
'in debate, they declared it to be lawful by the law of God: 
"and if the opinion, that marriage is a sacrament, fails, the 
conceit of the absolute indissolubleness of marriage will faU 
with it. 

The last sacrament which is rejected by this Article, that is, 
the fifth, as they are reckoned up in the church of Rome^ is 
Extreme Unction.^ In the commission that Christ gave his 



■ w The council of Trent having made this sacrament, thus describes its virtuesT 

' De effectu hujus sacramenti, . 
' Res porro, et effectus hujus sacramenti illis verbis explicatur : et oraticfidei sa^l- 
^ vabit infirmura ; et alleviabit eum Dominus ; et, si in peccatis sit, dimittentur ei : Res 
'etenim hsec gratia est Spiritus Sancti: cujus unctio delicta, si quae sint adhuc ex- 
pianda, ac peccati reliquias abstergit; et segroti animara alleviat, et confirmat, mag- 
nam in eo divinee misericordise fiduciam excitando ; qua infii'mus sublevatus ; et 
■morbi incommoda ac labores levius fert; et tentationibus daemonis calcaneo insi- 
diantis facilius resistit ; et sanitatem corporis interdUm, ubi saluti aniraa& expedie- 
' lit, eonsequitur.' 5ess!o xiv. cap. 2. : * 

In the foUovying chapter, ' De ministro. hujus sacramenti, et tempore quo dari de- 
beat,' the council states the reason of thename extreme unction: ' Declaratur 
etiam, esse banc unctionem infirmis adhibendam, iliis vero praesertim qui tarn peri- 
culose decumbunt, ut in exitu vitae constituti videantur : unde et sacramentum 
exeuntium nuncupatur.' 

In another place of the same session the council thus enforces her new article : 
Canon 1 . — ' Si quis dixerit, extremum unctionem non esse vere et proprie sacra- 
mentum a Christo Domino nostro institutum, et a beato Jacobo apostolo promufc- 
gatum ; sed ritum tantum acceptum a patribus, aut figmentum humanum : anathema 



THE MXl»!4^TIGL£S. 379 

^pstles^ anaong the o,t}>^rr powers that were given them a nr. 
j^Jto confirm it^ one was to ewe diseases and heal the sick ; pur- xx v. 
suant to which St. Mark tells, that ^they anointed with oil jy[arkvi 
inany that were sick, and healed them/ The prophets used 13. 
^^ome symbohcal actions when they wrought miracles 5 so Moses 
3)ised his rod often; Elisha used ElijaVs mantle; our Saviour ^^j^Yi'^H 
3put his finger into the deaf man^s ear, and made clay for the * j^Im m 
^bhnd man; and oil being upon almost all occasions used in .riqiqa 
jthe eastern pai'ts, the apostles made use of it; but no hint is^^ 
c^given that this was a sacramental action. It was plainly ,oao':y 
miraculous virtue that healed the sick, in which oil was dina 
. made use of as a symbol accompanying it. It was not pre- /J?^ 
scribed by our Saviour, for any tiling tliat appears, as it was Vr^iA 
not blamed by him neither. It was no wonder, if, upon such > -63 
a precedent, those who had that extraordinary gift, did apply ijf,'^! 
it with the use of oil; not as if oil was the sacramental .xi^a; 
^j€pnvey^nGe ; it was ordy used with it. The end of it was mi- o^o^ 
^jcaculous • it was in order to the recovery of the sick, and had ''^^^i 
no relation to their souls, though with the cure wrought on - ;-ioD 
the body there might sometimes be joined an operation upon ; ^^at^O 
the sold ; and this appears clearly from St. Jameses words, ^Is Jamek vf 
g^ny sick among you? let him call for the elders of the church ;, J ^' ^^^' j 
gand let them pray over him, anointing him with oil in tl^e fcs q3 i 
^diame of the Lord : and the prayer of faith shall save the sick/ 
and the Lord shall raise him up.' AU hitherto is one period, 
which is here closed. The following words contain new 
- matter quite of a different kind ; ^and if he have committed 
. sins, they shall be forgiven him.^ It appears clearly that this 
. was intended for the recovery of the sick person^ which is the 
|, thing that is positively promised ; the other concerning the 
pardon of sins, comes in on the bye, and seems to be added 
,prily as an accessary to the other, which is the principal thing 
i;designed by this whole matter. Therefore, since anointing 
^ was in order to healing, either we must say that the gift of 
healing is still deposited with the elders of the chitrch, which 
nobody affirms ; or this oil was only to be used by those who 
had that special gift ; and therefore if there are none now who 
pretend to have it, and if the church pretends not to have it 
lodged with her, then the anointing with oil cannot he used 
any more ; and therefore those who use it not in order to the 
recovery of the person, delaying it till there is little or no hope 
left, use not that unction mentioned by St. James, but an- 
other of their own devising, which they call the sacrament of 
the dying. It is a vain thing to say, that because saving and 
raising up are sometimes used in a spiritual sense, that there- 
fore the saving the sick here, and that of the Lord^s raising him 
up, are to be so meant. For the forgiveness of sin, which is 



sit.' — Canon 2. ' Si quis dixerit, sacram infirmorum unctionem non conferre gratiam, 
nec remittere peccata, nec alleviare infirmos ; sed jam cessasse, quasi dim taiitum 
fuerit gratia curationum : anathema sit.' — [Ed.] 



- the sici person had committed sins. The saving and raising 

itp must stand in opposition to the sickness : so since all ac- 
knowledge that the one is literal^ the other must be so too. 
The supposition of sin is added, because some persons_, upon 
whom this miracle might have been wrought, might be emi- 
pently pious ; and if at any time it was to be applied to ill 
men who had committed some notorious sins, perhaps sucl^ 
sins as had brought their sickness upon them, these were alsd 
Q[p. to be forgiven. 
oHoO / In the use of miraculous powers, those to whom that gift 
o8fe»3 L I ^j^g given, were not empowered to use it at pleasure; they 
\^ere to feel an inward impulse exciting them to it, and they 
^ere obliged upon that firmly to believe, that God, who had 
given them the impulse, would not be wanting to them in the 
execution of it. This confidence in God was the faith of mi^ 
Matt. xxi. racks, of which Christ said, ^ If ye have faith as a grain ^ 
SoqA.no3 jiiustard-seed, ye shall say to this mountain. Remove henc^ 
• ^ to yonder place, and nothing shall be impossible unto you.^ 
#t:di-. ifiii. Of this also St. Paul meant, when he said, ' If I have all faith. ^ 
„f! So from this we may gather the meaning of the prayer 6f 
S ^ .tq..^^jaithy and the anointing with oil; that if the elders o/ thb' 
.malD^M (^^'^^''^cJi, OY such Others with whom this power was lodged, felt 
y ' - an inward impulse moving them to call upon God, in arder €6 
^ a miraculous cure of a sick person, then they were to '^anoittrl 
g^^, him with oil in the name of the Lord :^ that is, by the authority 
9b .q. that they had from Christ to heal all manner of diseases : arifi 
g they were to pray^ believing firmly that God would make godS. 

' ' that inward motion which he had given them to work thii 
miracle; and in that case the effect was certain, the sick peri 
son would certainly recover, for that is absolutely promisedi 
Every one that was sick was not to be anointed, unless an au-»- 
anaoonnl thprity and motion from Christ had been secretly given for 
fiis oi ,qa doirig it ; but every one that Was anointed was certainly 
Jollft^:^? Jiealed. Christ had promised that ^whatsoever they shouM 
13. ask in his name, he would do it.^ His name must be re- 
strained to his authority, or pursuant to such secret motions 
as they shall receive from him. This is the prayer of faith 
here mentioned by St. James : it being an earnest application 
to God to join his omnipotent power to perform a wonderful 
work, to which a person so divinely qualified felt himself iia- 
wardly moved by the spirit of Christ. The supposition of tJfe 
sick person^s having committed sins, which is added, shews 
that sometimes this virtue was applied to persons of that 
eminent piety, that though all men are guilty in the sight of 
God, yet they could not be said to have committed sins in the 
sense in which St. John uses the phrase ; signifying by it, 
either that they had lived in the habits of sin, or that they had 
committed some notorious sin : but if some should happen to 
be sick, who had been eminent sinners, and those sins had 



Rom. Con. 
rrid. Sess. 



^^Hf^^m^M }\^m0,i?fo^9im^^ s^ems to art. 

the natural meaning of these words^ *^if ye nave committed 
si^s;f then, ^yLth his bodily health, he was to receive a much 
gy^i^ter blessing, even the pardon of his sins. And thus the 
mentioned by St. James was in order to a mira- 
culous cure, and the cure did constantly follow it : so that it 
can be no precedent for an extreme unction, that is never 
given till the recovery of the person is despaired of, ^nd 
% which it is not pretended that any cure is wrought.* 

The matter of it is ozY-o/ii'e blessed by the bishop; the form 
i^f the applying it to the five senses^ with these words. Per Rituale 
" viiC scicram unctionem, et suam jMssimam misericordiain in ^""^ 

%l^eat tibi Deus quicquid peccastij per visum, auditum, olfac- 
4^1*, giistimiy et tactiwu The proper word to every sense 
^^iig repeated as the organ of that sense is anointed. It is 
administered by a priest, and giv€s the fin^l pardon^ with all 
necessary assistances, in the last agony. Here is then an , 
in^itution, that, if warranted, is matter of great comfort ; and ''^ '^^^i^ 
if .jiot warranted, is matter of as great presumption. In the i^g""^^^^^* 
first ages we find mention is made frequently of persons that i. vi'i.c. 42, 
Vere cured by an anointing with oil: oil was then much used 44. 
in all their rituals, the catechumens being anointed with oil l^^l^^^^ 
before they were baptized, besides the chrism that was given Cypr.Ep.' 
after it. Oil grew also to be used in ordinations, and the 70. Clem, 
dead were anointed in order to their burial : so that the ^^^'o- 
ordinary use of oil on other occasions brought it to be very f.ti.cfs. 
frequently used in their sacred rites j yet how customary Dionys. 
soever the practice of anointing grew to be, we find no men- g^^JPj 
tion of any unction of the sick before the beginning of the Hier. 7 8. 
fifth century. This plainly shews that they understood St. 
James's words as relating to a miraculous power, and not to 1d 
function that was to continue in the church, and to be 
esteemed a sacrament. 

That earliest mention of it by pope Innocent the First, how Innocent, 
much soever it is insisted on, is really an argument that ^g^J^t^'* 
proves against it, and not for it. For not to enlarge on the * 
;j^ny idle things that are in that Epistle^ which have made 

' This passage in St. James speaks of the sick pei'son, anointed and prayed over, 
being raiseb up. How then do you prove a sacrament of extreme unction from 
unction not extreme, not to be used, as Trent says, on tliose past being raised up, but 
on those that were to be raised up, " and the Lord shall raise him up ?" Again, 
how can you promise remission of the sick man's sin, when you cannot promise the 
sign of it, viz. the recovery of the sick person ? Two questions more. If extreme 
unction confers grace, wipes away and remits sin, and resists the assaults of the 
devil, as Trent says, why do you not give it to criminals about to die ? Is it because 
they have no need of what this sacrament professes to give? Surely they have more 
need than other persons. Again, if extreme unction remits sin and wipes away the 
remainder of sin, why is it necessary, that those who receive this sacrament, should 
have masses said afterwards for the release of their souls from purgatory, where they 
are supposed to be detained, until all their sins be wiped away? If unction be 
effectual to do all that Trent says, why send those to purgatory who receive this 
unction? If it be nit effectual to the wiping away the remainder of sin (as Trent 
says it is) in the dying person, of what use is it?' Page's Letters to a Romish Priest. 
-[Ed.] 



ART. some^feitlk tliat it could not be genuin^i'^^ftd^^hlSft^doQWr}' 
XXV. much sink tlie credit both of the testimony and df tfie ihati V 
for it seems to be well proved to be his : the passage relating 
to this matter is in answer to a demand that was made to 
him by the bishop of Eugubium/ whether the sick might be 
anointed with the oil of the chrism? and whether the bishop 
might anoint with it ? To these he answers^, that no doubt is 
to be made but that St. James's words are to be understood 
of the faithful that were sick, who may be anointed by the 
chrism; which may be used not only by the priests^ but by 
all Christians, not only in their own necessities, but in the 
necessities of any of their friends : and he adds, that it was 
a needless doubt that was made, whether a bishop might do 
it; for presbyters are only mentioned, because the bishop 
could not go to all the sick; but certainly he who made the 
chrism itself, might anoint with ite A bishop asking these 
questions of another, and the answers which the other gives 
him, do plainly shew that this was no sacrament practised 
from the beginnings of Christianity ; for no bishop could be 
ignorant of those. It was therefore some newly begun cus- 
tom, in which the world was^ not yet sufficiently instructed. 
And so it was indeed, for the subject of these questions was 
not pure oil, such as now they make to be the matter of ex- 
j ; treme unction ; but the oil of c^mm, which was made and 
"SiOomskept for other occasions; and it seems very clear, that the 
"'^^^^^^^'^iraculous power of healing having ceased, and none being 
any more anointed in order to that; some began to get a 
portion of the oil of chrism, which the laity, as well as the 
igiH t5b5j)riests, applied both to themselves and to their friends, hoping 
"^"^°%'that they might be cured by it. Nothing else can be meant 
JoifayJ^y all this, but a superstitious using the chrism, which might 
ffijijjjle have arisen out of the memory that remained of those who 
q -^^ had been cured by oil, as the use of bread in the eucharist 
brought in the holy bread, that was sent from one church to 
another; and as from the use of water in baptism sprung the 
use of holy water. This then being the clear meaning of those 
words, it is plain that they prove quite the contrary of that 
for which they are brought ; and though in that Epistle the 
pope calls chrism a kind of sacrament, that turns likewise^^^ 
against them ; to shew that he did not think it was a sacra-i^^^ 
ment, strictly speaking. Besides, that the ancients used thaiP<^^ 
word very largely, both for every mysterious doctrine, and foi?^^ 
every holy rite that they used. In this very Epistle, wheiiJ^'^ 
he gives directions for the carrying about that bread, whiclfo^ 
they blessed, and sent about as an emblem of their com^^o 
munion with other churches; he orders them to be sent 
about only to the churches within the city, because he con- 
ceived the sacraments were not to be carried a great way off; 
so these loaves are called by him not only a kind of sacrOf 
7nent, but are simply reckoned to be sacraments. fgiji sriT 



THE XXXIX ARTICLES. 



l(Ve hear no more of anointing the sick with the chrism, A R T. 
among all the ancients ; which shews, that as that practice 
was newly begun, so it did not spread far, nor continue long. 
No mention is made of this neither in the first three ages,, 
nor in the fourth age; though the writers, and particularly^' 
the councils of the fourth age, are very copious in rules con-ri 
cerning the sacraments. Nor in all their penitentiary canons>r 
when they define what sins are to be forgiven, and what not>i 
when men were in their last extremities, is there so much asj 
a hint given concerning the last unction. The Constitutions, 
and the pretended Dionysius, say not a word of it, though,^ 
they are very full upon all the rituals of that time in whichi 
those works were forged, in the fourth or fifth century. In^ 
none of the lives of the saints before the ninth century, is I 
there any mention made of their having extreme unction, j 
though their deaths are sometimes very particularly related> 
and their receiving the eucharist is oft mentioned. Nor was 
there any question made in all that time concerning the per- 
sons, the time, and the other circumstances relating to this 
unction; which could not have been omitted, especially when 
almost all that was thought on, or writ of, in the eighth and 
ninth century^ relates to the sacraments, and the other rituals 
of the church. 

It is true, from the seventh century on to the twelfth, they gg^. 
began to use an anointing of the sick, according to that men- cram. Gre- 
tioned by pope Innocent, and a peculiar office was made for go^^^^nar- 
it; but the prayers that were used in it, shew plainly that it 
was all intended only in order to their recovery. 

Of this anointing many passages are found in Bede, and Bede Hist 
in the other writers and councils of the eighth and ninth cen- -^"S^- 
tury. But all these do clearly express the use of it, not as a Euchol. 
sacrament for the good of the soul, but as a rite that carried siveRitual. 
with it health to the body; and so it is still used in the Greek ^^^^-P- 
church. No doubt they supported the credit of this with 
many reports, of which some might be true, of persons that 
had been recovered upon using it. But because that failed 
so often, that the credit of this rite might sulfer much in the 
esteem of the world, they began in the tenth century to say, j| 
that it did good to the soul, even when the body was not v-| 
healed by it; and they applied it to the several parts of the.s 
body. This begun from the custom of applying it at first to xf 
the diseased parts. This was carried on in the eleventh cen- 'ff 
tury. And then in the twelfth, those prayers that had been /.^ 
formerly made for the souls of the sick, though only as a part • 
of the office, the pardon of sin being considered as prepara- pg^. 
tory to their recovery, came to be considered as the main and in Con. 
most essential part of it : then the schoolmen brought it into ^^.^ 
shape, and so it was decreed to be a sacrament by pope Eu- gggg' ^4 
genius, and finally established at Trent. 

The argument that they draw from a parity in reason, that .^t 



384 AN EXPOSITION OF 

A R r. because there is a sacrament for such as come into the worlds 
there should be also one for those that go out 6f it^ is ^e^y 
trifling; for Christ has either instituted this to be a-^at^a- 
ment^ or it is not one: if he has not instituted it^ this pre- 
tended fitness is only an argument that he ought to have done 
somewhat that he has not done. The eucharist was con- 
sidered by the aneients as the only viaticum of Christians^ in 
their last passage : with them we give that^ and no more. 

Thus it appears upon what reason we reject those five 
sacraments^ though we allow both of confirmation SiVid orders 
as holy function s^ derived to us down from the apostles; and 
because there is a visible action in these^ though in strict* 
ness they cannot be called a sacrament, yet so the thing bfe 
rightly understood, we will not dispute about the extent of 
a word that is not used in scripture. Marriage is in no 
Respect to be called a sacrament of the Christian religion ; 
though it being a state of such importance to mankind, we 
;liold it very proper, both for the solemnity of it, and for inf- 
plorin^ the blessing of God upon it, that it be done with 
prayers arid other acts of rel^ous worship ; but a great dif- 
ference is to be made between a pioils custom begun and 
continued by public authority, and a sacrament appointed by 
Christ. We acknowledge true repentance to be one of the 
great conditions of the new covenant ; but we see nothing of 
the nature of a sacrament in it: and, for extreme unction, we do 
not pretend to have the gift of healing among us : and therefore 
we will not deceive the world, by an office that shall offer at 
that, which we acknowledge we cannot do : nor will we make 
a sacrament for the good of the soul, out of that which is 
mentioned in scripture, only as a rite that accompanied the 
curing the diseases of the body. 

The last part of this Article, concerning the use of the 
sacraments, consists of two parts : the first is negative, that 
they are not ordained to be gazed on, or to be carried about, 
but to be used : and this is so express in the scripture, that 
little question can be made about it. The institution of bap- 
tism is, ^ Go preach and baptize and the institution of the 
eucharist is, ^ Take, eat, and drink ye all of it which words 
being set down before those in which the consecrating them 
is believed to be made, ^ This is my body ;' and ^ This is my 
blood and the consecratory words being delivered as the 
reason of the command, ^ Take, eat, and drink f nothing can 
be more clearly expressed than this, that the eucharist is 
consecrated only that it may be used, that it may be eat and 
drunL 

The second part of this period is, that the effect of the 
sacraments comes only upon the worthy receiving of them ; 
of this so much was already said, upon the first paragraph of 
this Article, that it is not necessary to add any more here. 
The pretending that sacraments have their effect any other 



THE XXXIX ARTICLES. 385 

iAioYr oi[3 oitn omoo rbira 'lo'^ .Inpmi^Tocr? r: f>i oioffj sancogd .151 A 
,way, is^tbe Winging in the dootrine and> practi^ce of cliarnas M?^T. 
into the Christian reUgion : and it tends to dissolve all obii- 
-gations to piety and devotion, to a holiness of life, or a purity 
apf temper, when the being in a passive and perhaps insensible 
. state, while the sacraments are applied, is thought a disposi- 
f^ion sufficient to give them their virtue. Sacraments are 
federal acts^ and those visible actions are intended to quicken 
-US, so that in the use of them we may raise our inward acts to 
^the highest degrees possible 5 but not to supply their defects 
jand imperfections. Our opinion in this point represents them 
.as means to raise om* minds, and to kindle our devotion ; 
.jwrhereas the doctrine of the church of Rome represents them 
|as so many charms, which may heighten indeed the authority 
^{ him that administers them, but do extinguish and deaden 
.ail true piety, when such helps are offered, by which the worst 
.jpff men, hving and. dying in a bad state, , may by a few feint 
.jaets, and perhaps by none at all of their own, be well enough 
^aken care of and secured^ But as we have not so learned 
,Christ, so neither dare we corrupt his doctrine in its most 
lyi^al ajid, essential p.ai:ts-^ ^ , 

yd baJnioqqB SaernBioss i? has ^^(phodiiss o'ddnq yd beuaiiaoo 
Qdi \o sno ad oi sonBinsqai Qsni QgbsIwoiDlois JzridO 
lio gflirfiojT 998 9w iud I ifl^nsvoo wan edi \o zno'dibnotj ;tB9'xg 
ob 9W ^noiionL'- amaiiza lo'i JynB tfi ni in9mi5i9/3a b\o atisian adJ 
Qioloiad^ bfiB i 81/ gnoms -gnd&ad ^o ^ii-g edl Qvad oi bmisiq ioa 
ijj lafto Hfidg c^firi* 9oifto ns ^^bliow sdi gvisoab iorr Uiw aw 
Q-Amn aw lliw ion i ob ^orm^o 9W agbalwondoB aw doidw ^iadi 
81 doidw dsdi \o ino Jnoa adi "io boog ad^ io\ inamsioBg b 
adi bainsqinoooB isdi ajh b zs vino ,aiijjqiio8 ni banoi^nam 

.^bod sdi Io 898B98ib ad^ gnriifo 
adj lo 98iJ 9di gnmiaonoo ^aloitiA ^id^ \o jiijq tasl adT 
itidi fSThsi-gesi ai ^%*?5\^ edi : a^isq 07fi \o gJaianoo ^_8.jrcamB'rr>B8 
^JDodfl barmo ad oi 10 ^ao basBg sd oi banijjbio ion ais ' 
^rtK-^ -.T;/+qho8 adi nx 889"iqxa oa 8i aidi bfus :ba8JX8do'^ 
•buiiisai adT iuods sbBm ad aso noiJaanp 
^rjgni adi biiB ^: asiiq^d has dosaiq oD^ ^81 ; 

I fi \o Hb a^ jlniib bns ^1b3 ^aifsT ^ ^gi daiiBdous 

moo adi doidw ni 98odi aiolad nwoh ^ 

HB \ jbod vm ai aidT ^ ^absm ad f 
rihd abiow Y'io^«ST098froo adJ bm ^ 
b briB ^ise ^aifiT ^ fbrrBmmoo atfi lo ir 

dj iijdj ^grrfj' asdj bdggaiqxa y^'^-'^s^^ eto. 

* ^ ~ , adT ' 

-j.moo 8in9mj5'i6i5a 



2 



386 



(jAN exposition of 



ART. . ,^ 

A.XV1. 

ARTICLE XXVI. , ' 

tlie Unworthiness of the Ministers^ which hinders not 
_ Effect of the Sacraments. ' , J 

mtljougf finite 'Fi'^iblr ht thtx mmgUtf iuttl^ ^'e 

tratton oi ti)t OTovtt autJ ^acrament^ ; mt iov mml) ti)^ 
not t]^t ^ame in tl;cd- oiun pame, but in Cj^nsV antf iJo 
,i;mm{^tfi' €onmk^ion mxti Hutljoritp, be mai) usie tl)ctr 

e #Itni^tr^ bot!) ui leaving ti)t W^oxH of antJ in reretbing tljr- 
l^^acraimnt^. |int!jer tl)c iS^ect of CJ)rtst^^ ©romance tafeen 
^ aiuap by tijdr TOcfeetJnes'ig : ^sr t!)e ^race of <3oti'& (&ifH- 
} timini^'i)t:ti ixoin i^ud) a^ hp faitl^ anl3 rigijtlp tio xmibt tje- 
B'acramcnt^ ln^m^teret^ unto tljcm, be ^ffeftual betau^e of 
€f)vkV^ fe^tttutton antJ ^Pi'ouuige, altljougi; ti)e|) be mimigtevelj b^ 
iEbiipitn. ^ :3 ysxfj xiarfw 

pebeitl^ele^s' it appertainetl) to t!)e I3i£!c{pltne of tf)e Cpfr^, t^^it 
iEngturi) be matJe of 3HbiI JMinisJter^ ; mxti tl)at tl;e^ be acru^etf 
bp t|)o^e t!jat i)abe fenobjIetJge of t^eir ^ffenceig, mxti t'nalb being 
founti guiltp, bp }u^t glutJgment be t^epcjgt^. 

The occasion that was given to this Article^ Avas the heat of 
some in the beginnings of the ileformation , who^ being much 
offended at the pubhc scandal which was given by the enor- 
mous vices that were without any disguise practised by the 
Roman clergy of all ranks^, did from thence revive the conceit 
of the Donatists^ who thought that not only heresy and schism 
did invalidate sacred functions, but that personal sins did also 
make them void. 

It cannot be denied but that there are many passages in 
St. Cyprian that look this way ; and which seem to make the 
sacraments depend as much on the good state that he was in ^ 
who administered them, as the answer of their other prayers 
did. 

In the progress of the controversy with the Donatists, they 
carried this matter very far; and considered the effect of the 
sacraments as the answer of prayers : so since the prayers of 
a wicked man are abomination to God, they thought the virtue 
of these actions depended wholly on him that officiated. 

Against this St. Augustin set himself very zealously; he 
answered all that was brought from St. Cyprian in such a 
manner, that by it he has set us a pattern, how we ought to 
separate the just respect that we pay the fathers, from an 
mplicit receiving of all their notions. If this conceit were 
illowed of, it must go to the secret thoughts and inward state 



THE XXXIX .VRTICLES. 



387 



in which he is who officiates ; for if the sacraments are to be ART. 
considered only as prayers offered up by him, then a man can 
never be sure that he receives them ; since it is impossible to 
see into the hearts, or know the secrets, of men. Sacraments 
therefore are to be considered only as the public acts of the 
church ; and though the effect of them, as to him that receives 
them, depends upon his temper, his preparation and applica- 
tion ; yet it cannot be imagined that the virtue of those federal 
acts to which Christians are admitted in them, the vaUdity of 
them, or the blessings that follow them, can depend on the 
secret state or temper of him that officiates. Even in the 
case of public scandals, though they may make the holy things 
to be loathed by the aversion that will naturally follow upon 
them ; yet after all, though that aversion may go too far, v\'e 
must .still distinguish between the things that the ministers of 
the church do as they are public officers, and what they do as 
they are private Christians. Their prayers, and every thing 
else that they do, as they are private Christians, have their 
effect only according to the state and temper that they are in 
when they offer them up to God : but their pubhc functions 
are the appointments of Christ, in which they officiate ; they 
can neither make them the better nor the worse by any thing 
that they join to them. And if miraculous virtues may be in 
bad men, so that in the great day some of those to whom 
Christ shall say, ^ I never knew you ; depart from me ye that Matt. vii. 
work iniquity,^ may yet say to him, * Lord, Lord, have we 
not prophesied in thy name ? and in thy name have cast out 
devils ? and in thy name done many wonderful works ?' then 
certainly this may be concluded much more concerning those 
standing functions and appointments that are to continue in 
the church. Nor can any difference be made in this matter 
between pubhc scandals and secret sins ; for if the former 
make void the sacraments, the latter must do so too. The 
only reason that can be pretended for the one, will also fall 
upon the other : for if the virtue of the sacraments is thought 
to be derived upon them as an answer of prayer ; then since 
the prayers of hypocrites are as Httle effectual as the prayers 
of those who are openly vicious, the inference is good, that if 
the sacraments administered by a scandalous man are without 
any effect, the sacraments administered by a man that is 
inwardly corrupted, though that can be only known to God, 
will be also of no effect ; and therefore this opinion that was 
taken up, perhaps from an inconsiderate zeal against the sins 
and scandals of the clergy, is without all foundation, and must 
needs cast all men into endless scruples, which can never be 
cured. 

The church of Rome, though they reject this opinion, yet 
have brought in another very like it, which must needs fill 
the minds of men mth endless distractions and fears ; chiefly 
considering of what necessity and efficacy they make the 

2 c 2 



388' AN l^l[MsM€Wo¥^^ 

ART. sacraments to be. They do teach that the intention of mm 
that gives the sacrament is necessary to the essence of it^ so 
that without it no sacrament can be administered. This was 
expressly affirmed by pope Eugenius in his decree^ and an 
anathema passed at Trent against those that deny it."^ They 
do indeed define it to be only an intention of doing that which 
the church intends to dp ; and though the , surest way, they 
say, is to have an actual intention^ yet it is commonly taught 
among them, that an habitual or virtual intention will serve. 
But they do all agree in this, that, if a priest has a secr^J;., 
intention not to make a sacrament, in that case no sacramei^J.^ 
is made ; and this is carried so far^, that in one of the rubric^^ 
Miss. Rom- of the Missalf it is given as a rule, that if a priest who goes 
defe'Vu In- to, consecrate twelve Hosties, should have a general intention 
tent. art. to leave out One of them from being truly consecrated, and 
V"- should not apply that to any one, but let it run loosely 
through them all, that in such case he should not consecrate 
any one of the twelve ; that loose exception falling upon them 
all, because it is not restrained to any one particular. And 
among the Articles that were condemned by pope Alexand^l^l 
the Eighth, the 7th of December 1690, the 28th runs thus^^^ 
Valet baptismus collatus a minis tro, qui omnem ritum ex- 
ternum formamque baptizandi observat, intus vero in corde, 
sua apud se resolvit, non intendo quod facit ecclesia. And thujf,, 
they make the secret acts of a priest^s mind enter so far inta.. 
those divine appointments^ that by his malice, irreligion, ot 
atheism, he can make those sacraments, which he visibly 
blesses and administers, to be only the outward shows of 
sacraments, but no real ones. We do not pretend that th^^ 
sacraments are of the nature of charms ; so that if a man 
should in a way of open mockery and profanation go abou^^ 
them, that therefore, because matter and form are observed^! 
they should be true sacraments. But though we make th,^j 
serious appearances of a Christian action to be necessary t^r 
the making it a sacrament ; yet we carry this no further, t®* 
jj ,, the inward and secret acts of the priest^ as if they were esse%,- 
tial to the being of it. If this is true_, no man can have quiq^j 
in his mind. 

It is a profanation for an unbaptized person to receive t}\% 
eucharist ; so if baptism is not true when a priest sets hiSj 
intention cross to it, then a man in orders must be in per- 
petual doubts, whether he is not living in a continual state of 
sacrilege in administering the other sacraments while he is 
not yet baptized ; and if baptism be so necessary to salvation, 
that no man who is not baptized can hope to be saved, here a 
perpetual scruple must arise^ which can never be removed. 

* The doctrine of intention is thus stated by the council of Trent: — 

' Si quis dixerit, in ministris, dum sacramenta conficiunt, et conferunt, non requiisf 

intentionem saltern faciendi quod facit ecclesia : anathema sit.' Sessio vii. can. xi.^ 

—[Ed.] 

f For this and the other Rubrics, see Appendix. — [Ed.] 



THE,X^XIX ARTICLES. 



389 



Nor can a man be sure but that;, when he thinks he is wor- a T. 
shipping the true body of Jesus Christy he is committing XXVI." 
idolatry^ and worshipping only a piece of bread ; for it is no ~* 
more, according to them, if the priest had an intention against 
consecrating it. No orders are given if an intention hes 
against them ; and then he who passes for a priest is no priest-;^ 
and all his consecrations and absolutions are" feo^^ many 'invalid 
things, and a continued course of sacrilege. '^^^^^^^^^ rfo'jf/.' 

Now what reason soever men may have in this case to hope^ 
for the pardon of those sins, since it is certain that the igno-*^ 
ranee is invincible; yet here strange thoughts must arisd^ 
concerning Christ and his gospel ; if in those actions that are - 
made necessary to salvation, it should be iti the power of 
a false Christian, or an atheistical priest or bishop, to make ^ ,,f„q 
them all void; so that by consequence it should be in his • j,) iyiyb 
power to damn them : for since they are taught to expect ' jnst 
grace and justification from the sacraments, if these are nd - 
true sacraments which they take for such, but only thd^ 
shadows and the phantasms of them, then neither grace nor^ 
justification can follow upon them. This may be carried sd^i 
far as even to evacuate the very being of a church ; for a man 
not truly baptized can never be in orders ; so that the whole 
ordinations of a church, and the succession of it, may be 
broke by the impiety of any one priest. This we look on as 
such a chain of absurdities, that if this doctrine of intention 
were true, it alone might serve to destroy the whole credit of 
the Christian religion, in which the sacraments are taught to 
be both so necessary and so efficacious; and yet all this is 
made to depend on that which can neither be known nor pre- 
vented. 

The last paragraph of this Article is so clear, that it needs 
no explanation, and is so evident, that it wants no proof. 
Eli was severely threatened for suffering his sons to go on in i Sam. iii. 
their vices, when by their means the sacrifice of God was ab- ^i- 
horred. God himself struck Nadab and Abihu dead, when 
they offered strange fire at his altar ; and upon that these 
words were uttered, ^ I will be sanctified in them that come Levit. x. 3. 
nigh me, and before all the people will I be glorified.^ Ti- 
mothy was required to receive ^an accusation of an elder,^ l Tim. v.i, 
when regularly tendered to him ; and to ^ rebuke before all, 3^4^^" 
those that sinned ;' and he was charged to withdraw himself 
from those teachers who ^consented not to wholesome words,^ 
and that made a gain of godliness. A main part of the disci- 
pline of the primitive church lay heaviest on the clergy : and 
such of them as either apostatized, or fell into scandalous sins, 
even upon their repentance, were indeed received into the 
peace of the church ; but they were appointed to communicate 
among the laity, and were never after that admitted to the 
body of the clergy, or to have a share in their privileges. 
Certainly there is nothing more incumbent on the whole body 



390 



AN EXPOSITION OF 



ART. of the church, than that all possible care be taken to discover 
XXVI. ^Yj^q ijad practices that may be among the clergy: which will 
ever raise strong prejudices not only against their persons, 
but even against their profession, and against that rehgion 
which they seem to advance with their mouths, while in their 
works, and by their hves, they detract from it, and seem to 
deny its authority. But after all, our zeal must go along with 
justice and discretion : fame may be a just ground to inquire 
upon; but a sentence cannot be founded on it. The laity 
must discover what they know, that so these who have autho- 
Gai. V.12. rity may be able to ^cut oif those that trouble the church.' 
Discretion will require that things which cannot be proved, 
ought rather to be covered than exposed, when nothing but 
clamour can follow upon it. In sum, this is a part of the go- 
vernment of the church, for which God will reckon severely 
with those who, from partial regards, or other feeble or carnal 
considerations, are defective in that, which is so great a part 
of their duty, and in which the honour of God, and of religion, 
and the good of souls, as well as the order and unity of the 
iihurch, are so highly concerned. 



THE XXXIX ARTICLES. 



391 



= y&m ^Bdi 89otteiq bud odi 
ARTICLE XXVir. .'^g^^ 

fiffi 1b9s ii/o ^ilfi iaiix5 iuS »Y^^'-c>dinj3 sir ^^lob 

YJSapti£im I'g not onb a^tgii of ^roftiS^iou aui ptark ofJSiteub, 
luijerebi) €i)vMmx Plfu a« tfij^cenutr from otJtvjcJ tijat ht not 
Cijvti^tmetf; l)ut tt is; ali^o a ^ign of S^egnttration or ^di) ?3ut!;, 
aiT)crtbj), asi &n an ^n^tvumntt, tlje^ tfiat receive 33 apti^m rigltlp, 
are cjrafteti into tije C^urrf). CJt ^romtsse^ of ti)t S'Qm^mm of 
^tn, of our 0t?option to be tje ^on^ of (^otl tlje floI|) (lljogt, 

^ are hi^Mv ^igne^f anl3 ^ealetf, jTait^ U confi'rmeti antr ^race in# 
creasetJ hixtm of 3Pt:a|)er to <©otf. Cl^e Baptism of j^oung 
CI;iIt(ren i^ i^t ann bii^e to Ije retaineti in t^e €i)uvc^yU^ mo!$t 
agreeable luit^ tlje ifn;gtitution of €t)xi^t 

When St, John Baptist began first to baptize, we do 
plainly see by tlie first chapter of St. John^s Gospel, that the 
Jews were not surprised at the novelty of the rite ; for they 
sent to ask who he ivas ? And when he said he was not the 
Messias, nor Elias, nor that Prophet, they asked, ^ Why bap- John i. 25. 
tizest thou then V Which shews, not only that they had clear 
notions of baptism, but in particular that they thought that 
if he had been the Messias, or Elias, or that Prophet, he 
might then have baptized, St. Paul does also say, that the 
Jews ^ were all baptized unto Moses in the cloud, and in the j ^ ^ 
sea which seems to relate to some opinion the Jews had, 
that by that cloud, and their passing through the sea, they 
were purified from the Egyptian defilements, and made m.eet 
to become Moses's disciples. Yet in the Old Testament we 
find no clear warrant for a practice that had then got among 
the Jews, which is still taught by them, that they were to 
receive a proselyte, if a male, by baptism, circumcision, and 
sacrifice; and if a female, only by baptism and sacrifice. Thus 
they reckoned, that when any came over from heathenism to 
their religion, they were to use a washing; to denote their 
purifying themselves from the uncleanness of their former 
idolatry, and their entering into a holy religion. 

And as they do still teach, that when the Messias comes, 
they are all bound to set themselves to repent of their former 
sins ; so it seems they then thought, or at least it would have 
been no strange thing to them, if the Messias had received 
such as came to him by baptism. St. John, by baptizing 
those who came to him, took them obliged to enter upon a 
course of repentance, and he declared to them the near ap- 
proach of the Messias, and that ^the Idngdom ol God was jvjatt.iii.2. 



AN EXPOSITION QflT 



A^;r. at haB4^'i^nd it is very probable, that those whosivv^erefbap- 
tized by Christ, that is, by his apostles ; for though it ' iis;^ 
expressfy said that he baptized none, yet what he did by his 
disciples he might in a more general sense be said to have 
no . done himself; that these, I say, were baptized upon the same 
' sponsions, and with the same declarations, and with no other; 
for the dispensation of the Messias was not yet opened, nor 
was it then fully declared that he was the Messias : howsoever 
this was a preparatory initiation of such as were fitted for the 
coming of the Messias; by it they owned their expectations 
' of him, as then near at hand, and they professed their repent- 

ance of their sins, and their purposes of doing what shoiildr 
be enjoined them by him. 

Water was a very proper emblem, to signify the passing 
from a course of defilement to a greater degree of purity, both, 
in doctrine and practice. i^sviiv^v^'i*^ lol 

GaLiv.4. Our Saviour in his state of humiliation, as he wa« subjetitt 
vixx^jf; to the Mosaical law, so he thought fit to fulfil all the obliga- 
tions that lay upon the other Jews; which by a phrase used 
Mat.iii.is. among them he expresses thus, ^to fulfil all righteousness.' 
For though our Saviour had no sins to confess, yet that not 
being known, he might come to profess his belief of the dis- 
pensation of the Messias, that was then to appear. But how 
well soever the J ews might have been accustomed to this 
rite, and how proper a preparation soever it might be to the 
manifestation of the Messias ; yet the institution of baptism, 
as it is a federal act of the Christian religion, must be taken 
from the commission that our Saviour gave to his disciples ; 
xxviii 19 go preach and make disciples to him in all nations, (for 
20^'"* ' that is the strict signification of the word,) baptizing them in 
the name of the Father, and of the Son, and of the Holy 
Ghost; teaching them to observe all things whatsoever I hav^. ; 
commanded you.^ ;/ ■ 

By the first teaching or making of disciples, that must gG>- 
before baptism, is to be meant the convincing the world, that 
Jesus is the Christ, the true Messias, anointed of God, with a 
fulness of grace and of the Spirit without measure, and sent 
to be the Saviour and Redeemer of the world. And when 
they were brought to acknowledge this, then they were to 
baptize them, to initiate them to this religion, by obliging 
them to renounce all idolatry and ungodliness, as well as all 
secular and carnal lusts, and then they led them into the 
,e,ij;n water; and with no other garments but what might cover 
• nature, they at first laid them down in the water, as a man is 
laid in the grave, and then they said those words, ^ I baptize 
or wash thee in the name of the Father, Son, and Holy 
Ghost then they raised them up again, and clean garments 
Roni.vi.3, were put on them: from whence came the phrases of ^ being 
t'otii 12 ^^P^^^^^^ ^^^^ Christ^s death ;^ of ' being buried with him by 
iii!^i." baptism into death ;' of / our being risen with Christ,^ and of 



TflK© mXIX ARTICLES. 



393 



Rom.xiii. 
14. 



^ our putting on the Lord J^d^^ ^Christ ;* of ^ imtting kyW'iW A^^f, 
old man^ and putting on the new/ After baptism was thus 
performed^ the baptized person was to be further instructed Col.iii. 
m all the specialities of the Christian religion, and in all the 9, lo. 
rules of life that Christ had prescribed. 

This was plainly a different baptism from St. John^s ; a 
profession was made in it^ not in general, of the belief of li^ 
Messias soon to appear, but in particular, that ^ Jesus was the 
Messias.^ 

The stipulation in St. John^s baptism was repentance ; but 
here it is the belief of the whole Christian religion. In St,^* 
Jdhn^s baptism- they indeed promised repentance, and he 
received them into the earnests of the kingdom of the Mes- 
sias ; but it does riot appear that St. John either did promise^ 
them remissioii of^ sins, or th^t he had commission s o to do^ ; 
for repentance SLnd remission of sms were not pined togethe^^ 
till^^t^ the fdsiJiTeetibn of 'Chrisf ; that he appointed that '^'"^ 
^ reptetance and remission of sins should be preached in his? ^Lukexxiv. 
name among air nations, beginning at Jerusalem.^ )ii47. 

Li the baptism of Christ, I mean that which he appointed^ .cLoicjfiM 
after his resurrection, (for the baptism of his disciples befor^ 
that time was, no doubt, the same with St. John^s baptism,)^ ' 
there was to be an instruction given in that great mystery of 
the Christian religion concerning the Father, the Swi, and the 
Holy. Ghost; which those who had only received St. John^s 
baptism knew not: ^they did riot so much as know that there Acts xix. 
was a Holy Ghost ;^ that is, they knew nothing of the extra- 
orcUnary effusion of the Holy Ghost. And it is expressly^ 
said, that those of St. John^s baptism, when St. Paul ex-^ 
j^ained to them the difference between the baptism of Christy ^ ' " .0£ 
and that of St. John, that ^they were baptized in the name^ 
of the ILord Jesus.' For St. John in his baptism had only- 
initiated them to the belief of a Messias ; but had not said 
word of Jesus, as being that Messias. So that this must be 
fixed, that these two baptisms were different ; the one was a ^ 
dawning or imperfect beginning to the other, as he that a.d- f 
ministered the one was like the morning star before the >S^w» ^ 
of righteousness, ^ 

Our Saviour had this ordinance (that was then imperfecty ^ 
and was to be afterwards completed, when he himself had ^ 
finished all that he came into the world to do) — ^he had, I say, 
this visibly in his eye, when he spake to Nicodemus, and told 
him, that ^ except a man were born again, he could not see John iii. 3, 
(or discern) the kingdom of God by which he meant that ^' ®* 
entire change and renovation of a man's mind, and of all his 
powers, through which he must pass, before he could discern ^ 
the true characters of the dispensation of the Messias; for^ 
that is the sense in which the kingdom of God does stand, 
almost universally through the whole gospel. When Nico- 
demus was amazed at this odd expression, and seemed to take 



394 



AN EXPOSITION OF 



A R T. it literally, our Saviour answered more fully, ^ Verily, verily, I 
XX vir. say unto thee. Except a man be born of water and of the Spirit, 

' he cannot enter into the kingdom of God/ The meaning of 

which seems to be this, that except a man came to be renewed, 
by an ablution like the baptism which the Jews used, that 
imported the outward profession of a change of doctrine and 
of heart ; and with that, except he were inwardly changed by 
a secret power called the Spirit, that should transform his 
nature, he could not become one of his disciples, or a true 
Christian ; which is meant by his entering into the kingdom 
of God, or the dispensation of the Messias. 

Upon this institution and commission given by Christ, we 
see the apostles went up and down preaching and baptizing. 
And so far were they from considering baptism only as a 
carnal rite, or a low element, above which a higher dispensa- 
tion of the Spirit was to raise them, that when St. Peter saw 
the Holy Ghost visibly descend upon Cornelius and his 
friends, he upon that immediately baptized them ; and said. 

Acts X. 44,/ Can any man forbid (or deny) water, that these should not 

47, 48. baptized, which have received the Holy Ghost as well as 
we Our Saviour has also made baptism one of the precepts, 
though not one of the means, necessary to salvation. A mean 
is that which does so certainly procure a thing, that it being 
had, the thing to which it is a certain and necessary mean is 
also had ; and without it the thing cannot be had ; there being 
a natural connection between it and the end. Whereas a 
precept is an institution, in which there is no such natural 
efficiency; but it is positively commanded; so that the 
neglecting it is a contempt of the authority that commanded 
it : and therefore in obeying the precept, the value or virtue of 
the action lies only in the obedience. This distinction appears 
very clearly in what our Saviour has said both of faith and 

Mark xvi. baptism, ^ He that believeth and is baptized shall be saved ; 
and he that believeth not shall be damned.^ 

Where it appears that faith is the mean of salvation with 
which it is to be had, and not without it ; since such a be- 
lieving as makes a man receive the whole gospel as true, and 
so firmly to depend upon the promises that are made in it, as 
to observe all the laws and rules that are prescribed by it ; 
such 2i faith as this gives us so sure a title to all the blessings 
of this new covenant, that it is impossible that we should 
continue in this state, and not partake of them ; and it is no 
less impossible that we should partake of them, unless we do 
thus believe. It were not suitable to the truth and hohness 
of the divine nature to void a covenant so solemnly made, and 
that in favour of wicked men, who will not be reformed by it : 
so faith is the certain and necessary mean of our salvation, 
and is so put by Christ ; since upon our having it we shall be 
saved, as well as damned upon our not having it. 

On the other hand, the nature of a ritual action, even when 



THE XXXIX ARTICLES. 



395 



commanded^ is such, tli^t unless we could imagine that there A R T. 
is a charm in it, which is contrary to the spirit and genius of 
the gospel, which designs to save us by reforming our natures, 
we cannot think that there can be any thing in it that is of 
itself elFectual as a mean ; and therefore it must only be con- 
sidered as a command that is given us, which we are bound to 
cobey, if we acknowledge the authority of the command. But 
""this being an action that is not always in our power, but is to 
be done by another, it were to put our salvation or damnation in 
the power of another, to imagine that we cannot be saved with- 
out baptism ; and therefore it is only a precept which obliges 
us in order to our salvation ; and our Saviour, by leaving it 
•Hint when he reversed the words, saying only, ' he that beheveth 
not,^ without adding, and is not baptized, shall be damned, does 
plainly insinuate that it is not a mean, but only a precept, in 
%rder to our salvation. 

^' As for the ends and purposes of baptism, St. Paul gives us 
two : the one is, that ' we are aU baptized into one body, we i Cor. xii. 
are made members one of another :^ we are admitted to the 
society of Christians, and to aU the rights and privileges of 
that body, which is the church. And in order to this, the 
outward action of baptism, when regularly gone about, is 
sufficient. We cannot see into the sincerity of men^s hearts ; 
outward professions and regular actions are all that fall under 
men's observation and judgment. But a second end of bap- 
tism is internal and spiritual. Of this St. Paul speaks in very 
high terms, when he says, that ^ God has saved us according Tit. iii. 5. 
to his mercy, by the washing of regeneration, and the renew- 
ing of the Holy Ghost.' It were a strange perverting the 
design of these words, to say, that somewhat spiritual is to be 
understood by this washing of regeneration, and not baptism ; 
when as to the word save, that is here ascribed to it, St. 
Peter gives that undeniably to baptism; and St. Paul else- 
where, in two different places, makes our baptism to represent 
^ our being dead to sin, and buried with Christ and our being Rom. vi. 
^ risen and quickened with him, and made alive unto God ;' jj 
which are words that do very plainly import regeneration. So 
that St. Paul must be understood to speak of baptism in these 
words. Here then is the inward effect of baptism; it is a 
death to sin, and a new life in Christ, in imitation of him, and 
in conformity to his gospel. So that here is very expressly 
delivered to us somewhat that rises far above the badge of a 
profession, or a mark of difference. 

That does indeed belong to baptism ; it makes us the visible 
members of that one body, into which we are baptized, or ad- 
mitted by baptism ; but that which saves us in it, which both 
deadens and quickens us, must be a thing of another nature. If 
baptism were only the receiving us into the society of Chris- 
tians, there were no need of saying, ' I baptize thee in the name 
of the Father, and of the Son, and of the Holy Ghost.' It were 



m^w^osmcm own 



A^KWl\ nrore proper, S2if^^I baptize the^ iTt i^^ 
XiX Vlli authoHty of the clmrch. Therefore these august words^ that 
were dictated by our Lord hmiself^ shew us that therfr is 
somewhat m it that is internal^ which comes from God; that 
it is an admitting men into somewhat that depends only on 
God^ and for the giving of which the authority can only 
be derived by him. But after all^ this is not to be believed 
be of the nature of a charm^ as if the very act of baptism cartl:^ 
ried always with it an inward regeneration. Here we mus»fr1 
confess, that very early some doctrines arose upon baptismrj 
that we cannot be determined by. The words of our Saviour 
to Nicodemus were expounded so as to import the absolute 
necessity of baptism in order to salvation ; for it not being 
observed that the dispensation of the Messias was meant by 
the kingdom of God, but it being taken to signify eternal 
glory, that expression of our Saviour's was understood to 
import thisy that no man could be saved unless he were bapt^'.; 
tized ; so it was believed to be simply necessary to salvationlo 
A -natural consequence that followed upon that, was to allown 
all persons leave to baptize, clergy and laity, men and women^i 
since it seemed necessary to suffer every person to do thaio 
without which salvation could not be had. Upon this, thes^o 
hasty baptisms were used, without any special sponsion omd 
the part of those who desired it; of which it may be reasoi^-'^ 
ably doubted whether such a baptism be true, in which no 
sponsion is made ; and this cannot be well answered, but by " 
saying, that a general and an implied sponsion is to be con=*?J 
sideredto be made by their parents while they desire them tb'^ 
be baptized. i ^ 

Another opinion that arose out of the former, was the)i> 
mixing of the outward and the inward effects of baptism ; 
being believed that every person that was born of the water/// 
was also ^ born of the Spirit ;' and that the ^ renewing of the 
Holy Ghost^ did always accompany the ^ washing of regene- 
ration.^ And this obliged St. Austin (as was formerly told)^ 
to make that difference between the regenerate and the pre^h> 
destinated ; for he thought that all who were baptized were^J' 
also regenerated. St. Peter has stated this so fully, that if 
his words are well considered, they will clear the whole 
matter. He, after he had set forth the miserable state in 
which mankind was, under the figure of the deluge, in which 
an ark was prepared for Noah and his family, says upon tha(^>^ 
1 Pet. iiii ^ the like figure whereunto even baptism doth also now savex^ 
21. us.^ Upon which he makes a short digression to explain the 
nature of baptism, ^ not the putting away the filth of the^s? 
flesh, but the answer (or the demand and interrogation) of mi 
good conscience towards God; by the resurrection of Jesus i' 
Christ, who is gone into heaven.^ The meaning of all which 
is, that Christ having risen again, and having then had ' all : 
power in heaven and in earth^ given to him, he had put thati J 



tliat miserable state iHOffvthiahl^iHai'^orld'cstoi^. asM ^vMoh^it^ XjXyjL- 
must perish. But tlidn Kie ^xplaiiiS'tlie ^vaj kmv* it saves iis>;<' 
that it is not as a physical action, as it washes aAvay the iilthi-^a 
ne^s of the flesh, or of the hocly^ like the notion that th^i 
Gentiles might have of their feb^'imtions ; or, which is mor^ 
natural, considering to whom he writes,, like the opinions that! 
the Jews had of their cJeansings after their legal iinpurities^d 
from which their washings and bathingS: did absolutely freei 
tton. The salvation that we Christians have by baptismy iso 
effected by that federation into which we enter, when uporii 
the deniands that are made of our renouncing the Devil, the) 
loorld, and the flesh, and of our believing in Christ, and our!? 
re^ewtoire towards God, we make such aiisiaers from a good^j 
cbmcience, as agree with the end and design of baptism ; theiai J 
byj our thus coming into covenant with God, we are saved irig 
baptism. So that the salvation by baptism is given by reasomi 
of the federal compact that is niade in it. Now this being? j 
made outwardly, according to the rules that are prescribed, ' 
that must make the baptism good among men, as to all the 
outward and visible effects of it : but since it is the ^ answent 
of a good conscience' only that saves, then an answer from aw 
bad conscience, from a hypocritical person, who does nofeil 
mwardly think, or purpose, according to what he professesfl 
oiitwardly, cannot save, but does on the contrary aggravate! 
his* damnation. Therefore our Article puts the efficacy of 
baptism, in order to the forgiveness of our sins, and to our 
adoption and salvation, upon the virtue of prayer to God;(r 
that is, upon those vows and other acts of devotion thated 
accompany them : so that when the seriousness of the mind 
accompanies the regularity of the action, then both the out- rj 
ward and inward effects of baptism are attained by it; and 
we are not only ^ baptized into one body,' but are also ' saved 
by baptism.' So that upon the whole matter, baptism is arl 
federal admission into Christianity, in which, on God's part, 
all the blessings of the gospel are made over to the baptized ; 
and, on the other hand, the person baptized takes on him, by 
a solemn profession and vow, to observe and adhere to the 
whole Christian religion. So it is a very natural distinction 
to say, that the outward effects of baptism follow it as out- 
wardly performed; but that the inward effects- of it follow 
upon the inward acts : but this difference is still to be observed 
between inward acts and outward actions, that when the out- , 
ward action is rightly performed, the church must reckon the i^^ 
baptism good, and never renew it : but if one has been wanting 
in the inward acts, those may be afterwards renewed, and i i. 
that want may be made up by repentance. 

Thus all that the scriptures have told us concerning baptism 
seems to be sufficiently explained. There remains only one place 
that may seem somewhat strange. St. Paul says, that ^ Christ iCor.i. 17. 



398 



AN EXPOSITION OF 



ART. sent him not to baptize^ but to preach which some have car- 
XXVri. j-ied so far as to infer from thence, that preaching is of more 
value than baptism. But it is to be considered, that the 
preaching of the Apostles was of the nature of a promulgation 
made by heralds; it was an act of a special authority, by 
which he in particular was to convert the world from idolatry 
Acts viii. and Judaism, to acknowledge ' Jesus to be the true Messias.' 
26. to the Now when men, by the preaching of the apostles, and by 
®" * the miracles that accompanied it, were so wrought on as 
to believe that ^ Jesus was the Christ ;^ then, according to the 
practice of Philip towards the eunuch of Ethiopia, and of St. 
Acts xvi. Paul to his jailor at Philippi, they might immediately baptize 
31,32, 33. t}iem ; yet most commonly there was a special instruction to 
be used, before persons were baptized who might in general 
have some conviction, and yet not be so fully satisfied, but 
that a great deal of more pains was to be taken to carry them 
on to that full assurance of faith which was necessary. This 
was a work of much time, and was to be managed by the 
pastors or teachers of the several churches ; so that the mean- 
ing of what St. Paul says was this, that he was to publish the 
gospel from city to city, but could not descend to the par- 
ticular labour of preparing and instructing of the persons to 
be baptized, and to the baptizing them when so prepared. If 
he had entered upon this work, he could not have made that 
progress, nor have founded those churches, that he did. All 
this is therefore misunderstood, when it is applied to such 
preaching as is still continued in the church ; which does 
not succeed the apostolical preaching that was inspired and 
infallible, but comes in the room of that instruction and 
teaching which was then performed by the pastors of the 
church. 

The last head in this Article relates to the baptism of in- 
fants, which is spoken of with that moderation, which appears 
very eminently through the whole Articles of our church. On 
this head, it is only said to be most agreeable with the insti- 
tution of Christ, and that therefore it is to be in any ways 
retained in the church. Now to open this, it is to be consi- 
dered, that though baptism and circumcision do not in every 
particular come to a parallel, yet they do agree in two things : 
the one is, that both were the rites of admission into their 
respective covenants, and to the rights and privileges that did 
arise out of them ; and the other is, that in them both there 
was an obligation laid on the persons to the observance of 
that whole law to which they were so initiated. St. Paul, 
arguing against circumcision, lays this down as an uncontested 
Galat. V.3. niaxim, that if a man was circumcised, ^he became thereby a 
debtor to the whole law.^ 

Parents had, by the Jewish constitution, an authority given 
them to conclude their children under that obligation; so that 
the soul and wdll of the child was so far put in the power 



THE XXXIX ARTICLES. 



399 



of the parents, that they could bring them under federal ART 
obligations, and thereby procure to them a share in federal ^^VII. 
blessings. And it is probable, that from hence it was, that 
when the Jews made proselytes, they considered them as 
having such authority over their children, that they baptized 
them first, and then circumcised them, though infants. 

Now since Christ took baptism from them, and appointed it 
to be the federal admission to his religion, as circumcision 
had been in the Mosaical dispensation, it is reasonable to 
believe, that, except where he declared a change that he made 
in it, in all other respects it was to go on and to continue as 
before ; especially when the apostles in their first preaching 
told the Jews, that the promises were made to them and Acts ii. 39 
to their children; which the Jews must have understood 
according to what they were already in possession of, that 
they could initiate their children into their religion, bring 
them under the obligations of it, and procure to them a share 
in those blessings that belonged to it. The law of nature and 
nations puts children in the power of their parents ; they are 
naturally their guardians; and if they are entitled to any thing, 
their parents have a right to transact about it, because of the 
weakness of'the child ; and what contracts soever they make, 
by which the child does not lose, but is a gainer, these do cer- 
tainly bind the child. It is then suitable both to the consti- 
tution of mankind, and to the dispensation of the Mosaical 
covenant, that parents may dedicate their children to God, 
and bring them under the obligations of the gospel; and 
if they may do that, then they certainly procure to them with 
it, or in lieu of it, a share in the blessings and promises of the 
gospel. So that they may offer their children either them- 
selves, or by such others of their friends, to whom for that 
occasion they transfer that right which they have, to transact 
for and to bind their children. 

All this receives a great confirmation from the decision 
which St. Paul makes upon a case that must have happened 
commonly at that time ; which was, when one of the parties 
in a married state, husband or ivife^ was converted, while the 
other continued still in the former state of idolatry, or infi- 
delity : here then a scruple naturally arose, whether a believer 
or Christian might still live in a married state with an infidel. 
Besides the ill usage to which that diversity of religion might 
give occasion, another difficulty might be made, whether a 
person defiled by idolatry did not communicate that impurity 
to the Christian, and whether the children born in such a mar- 
riage were to be reckoned a holy seed, according to the Jewish 
phrase, or an unholy, unclean children, that is heathenish ^ 
children ; who were not to be dedicated to God, nor to be " 
admitted into covenant with him : for unclean in the Old Tes- 
tament, and uncircumcised, signify sometimes the same thing; 
and so St. Peter said that in the case of Cornelius God had 



400 



AN EXPOSITION OF 



A R T. shewed him^ that he should call no man common or unclean ; 
in allusion to all which St. Paul determines the case_, not by- 
Acts X. 28. immediate revelation, but by the inferences that he drew 
1 Cor. vii. from what had been revealed to him ; he does appoint the 
Christian to live with the infidel, and says, that the Christian 
is so far from being defiled by the infidel, that there is a com- 
munication of a blessing that passes from the Christian to the 
infidel ; the one being the better for the prayers of the other, 
and sharing in the blessings bestowed on the other: the better 
part was accepted of God, ^in whom mercy rejoices over judg- 
ment/ There was a communication of a blessing that the 
Christian derived to the infidel ; which at least went so far, 
that their children were not unclean ; that is, shut out from 
being dedicated to God, but were holy. Now it is to be con- 
sidered that in the New Testament Christians^ and saints, or 
holy, stand all promiscuously. The purity of the Christian 
doctrine, and the dedication by which Christians offer up 
themselves to God, makes them holy. 

In scripture, holiness stands in a double sense ; the one is 
a true and real purity, by which a man^s faculties and actions 
become holy; the other is a dedicated holiness, w^hen any 
thing is appropriated to God ; in which sense it stands most 
commonly in the Old Testament. So times, places, and not 
only persons, but even utensils applied to the service of God, 
are called holy. In the New Testament, Christian and saint 
are the same thing; so the saying that children are holy when 
one of the parents is a Christian, must import this, that the 
child has also a right to be made holy, or to be made a 
Christian; and by consequence, that by the parents^ dedi- 
cation that child may be made holy, or a Christian. 

Upon these reasons we conclude, that though there is no 
express precept or rule given in the New Testament for the 
baptism of infants, yet it is most agreeable to the institution 
of Christ, since he conformed his institutions to those of the 
Mosaical law, as far as could consist with his design; and 
therefore in a thing of this kind, in which the just tenderness 
of the human nature does dispose parents to secure to their 
children a title to the mercies and blessings of the gospel, 
there is no reason to think that this being so fully set forth 
and assured to the Jews in the Old Testament, that Christ 
should not have intended to give parents the same comforts 
and assurances by his gospel that they had under the law of 
Moses: since nothing is said against it, we may conclude from 
the nature of the two dispensations, and the proportion and 
gradation that is between them, that children under the new 
testament are a holy seed, as well as they were under the old; 
and by consequence, that they may be now baptized as well as 
they were then circumcised. 

If this may be done, then it is very reasonable to say Avhat 
is said in the Article concerning it, that it ought in any ivise 



, ,\(\v>\'>scv; TO v;o.^^^^^w(^'> rrrffT on [[r;^ f> I ff;^ '''rf ^nrft .mrd h'^iry]?'. ,T A 
((^ be retained in the church : for the same humanity that < fifSLY.. 

(ibhges parents to feed thek children, and to take care of 
j^l>eni while they are in such a helpless state, must dictate, 
that it is much more incumbent on them, and is as much ' 
more necessary as the soul is more valuable than the body, 
^Qr them to do all that in them lies for the souls of their 
children, for securing to them a share in the blessings ajj-d 
privileges of the gospel, and for dedicating them early to the 
Christian rehgion. The office for baptizing infants is in the 
same words with that for persons of riper age ; because in- 
fants being then in the power of their parents, who are of 
^ge, are considered as in them, and as binding themselves by 
the vows that they make in their name. Therefore the office 
carries on the supposition of an internal regeneration ; and in 
that helpless state the infant is offered up and dedicated to 
(Grod; and proyided, that when he comes to age he takes 
those vows on himself, and lives like a pereon so in covenant 
with God, then he shall find the full effects of baptism ; and 
if he dies in that state of incapacity, he being dedicated tQ 
God, is certainly accepted of by him; and by being put iii 
the second Adani, all the bad effects of his having descended 
from the first Adam are quite taken away. Christ, when on 
earth, encouraged those who brought little children to him ; 
^ he took them in his arms, and laid his hands on them> and Matt. xix. 
blessed them,^ and said, ^ Suffer little children to come unto 
me, and forbid, them not ; for of such is the kingdom of 
God.^ Whatever these words may signify mystically, the 
literal meaning of them is, that little children may be admit- 
ted into the dispensation of the Messias, and by consequence 
that they may be baptized. ^ . , - i = 

ifii lot ^namsiasT v/aVI sdi iii navrg sli/i lo iqaosiq Bgaiqzo 

}Ai \o 08odi 0* grioiduiiiam ziA bsmiOiiioa . 
.fiB jngiaab aid dliw daisn ; . [ ' _ isl c... 
:39ni3bnQj jgnj^ arii daMw .0 gnMj t9 di 

air sfiJ098 03 g^nsisc .sod siirt^ii ajiix. 

l9E vifw'i 08 gn.bd gixij mm inMl noaas'i on ei sisiia 
.'J ifid^ t^nsmBiasT blO sddr ni av/sL 9if^ baujag^ has, 
noltrrroD amsa sd^ ainsf^q svig oi h^hmim. 9V£d iorr bliforfa 
io w£{ sdj "rsbnjj b^d ^sdi laqaog aid vd asonmiraas bnB 
moil sbi/lofloi) Y^^^^ 9W JanlB'gE brsa ai gnidion aonia ^asaoM 
i ^afiolijsansqaib OY/i sdi lo swisn 8d5 
^sdi ^mgrfi xxsewisd ai r^sdl noiifibjyi^ 
uio oas ic?>;iiii oiaw vQdi as Hsw a^ \s\o^ js 9ts tomBiasit 

oBaaiomx/oiio nsdi stqw. Y^d^ 
. . : ^ _^ ji nsdi ^9nob 9d \s^m aidi ft 

^A^wo i^dJ gnirfi90fioo slob'iA 9dl ni brca ai 

2 D 



402 



AN EXPOSITION OF 



ART. 
XXVIIl. 

ARTICLE XXVIIL 
Of the Lord^s Supper. 

Ci^e Supper of tje %oxti not onlv a ^igu of tl)t %o\3t t|)at C]^n«{* 
ttait^ oiigljt to i^a^e among ti^emiSelbc^ one to anotl^er; but iatf)fi* 
ft ijg a Sacrament of our ^e^iemption bp C!)ri^t'5 IBeatlj : ffnsio^^ 
mud) t^at to jguc]^ a^^ t^iS^Jtlp, luortljib, mti hiitl) jFattf), vtaibc 
t^t ^ame, tjt Breatr hji)ic^ b3t break a partafemg; of ti)t Botrp 
of CI;rt£it, anU lifeetoiige t]^e Cup of Blt^^ing a partafemg of ti)t 
23lootf of Cj^rfsJt. Cran^ub^tantiatton (or tl)t Change of t]^e 
^ub^tanc? of SSreatJ antJ OTme) m tf^z Supper of ti)t ilortr, can? 
not be probetf bp Holp Writ, but tt ifS repugnant to tl^t plain 
TOortJ^ of Scripture, obertl^robetij t^e Mature of a Sacrament, 
mti ]^at|) giben occasion to mani) ^uper^tition^. Oje ^otiv of 
Cj^riigt giben, tafeen, antr eaten in ti)t Supper onlv after a 
fleabenlp miti Spiritual |Hann?r; an"S ti)t mean bljerebn t^t 
33olfp of C^rt^t receibeti mxSi eaten m t!)e Supper, dfaitj. 
Cf)e Sacrament of t|)e ilortJ';^ Supper ba^ not bp Cljrii^t'si ©r;^ 
tJinance re;gerbel?, carrtetJ about, Iifte^a up, an>f iuor^Ijippeb. 

In the edition of these Articles in Edward VI.'s Reign, there was 
another long paragraph against Transubstantiation added in these 
words: ;lfora^muc]^ a^ t^eCrut^ of iSftan^^ l^ature reixuiret!) t^at 
t^t ISotip of one antl t^e i^elf^^^ame JKan cannot be at one Cune in 
tltber^ ^laeesi, but mu^t mtH^ be in one certain ^laee; therefore 
ti^e 23otin of €\)xi<)t eannot be present at one Ctme in manp mxH 
iJiber^ ^lace^: an)3 beeau^e, a:^ flolp Scripture "tJot^ teac]^, CJrisit 
b)a^ taken up into f^ta&en, anH tljere iSf)all continue unto ti^e 
iEntJ of ti^eOTorltr; a dfaitljful Plan ougl^t not eit!)er to beXtebe, 
or openln confc^;^, tl^e Sdcal antJ ^ollrtn ^re^ence, a^ ti}zv term it, 
of Cljri^V^ dTle^J) Rnti ^looti in ti;e 'Sacrament of f^t .%ov^'^ 
Supper. 

When these Articles were at first prepared by the convoca- 
tion in queen Elizabeth^s reign^ this paragraph was made a 
part of them; for the original subscription by both houses of 
convocation^ yet extant^ shews this. But the design of the 
government was at that time much turned to the drawing 
over the body of the nation to the Reformation, in whom the 
old leaven had gone deep ; and no part of it deeper than the 
belief of the corporeal presence of Christ in the sacrament; 
therefore it was thought not expedient to offend them by so 
particular a definition in this matter ; in which the very word 
real presence was rejected. It might, perhaps, be also sug- 
gested, that here a definition was made that went too much 



THE XXXIX ARTICLES. 



403 



upon the principles of natural philosophy ; which how true ART. 
soever, they might not be the proper subject of an article of ^^f^^* 
religion. Therefore it was thought fit to suppress this para- 
graph ; though it was a part of the Article that was sub- 
scribed, yet it was not published, but the paragraph that 
follows. The body of Christ, &c. was put in its stead, and was 
received and published by the next convocation ; which upon 
the matter was a fuU explanation of the way of Christ^s pre- 
sence in this sacrament ; that he is present in a heavenly and 
spiritual manner, and that faith is the mean by ivhich he is 
received. This seemed to be more theological; and it does 
indeed amount to the same thing. But howsoever we see 
vrhat was the sense of the first convocation in queen Eliza- 
beth's reign; it differed in nothing from that in king Edward's 
time : and therefore though this paragraph is now no part of 
our Articles, yet we are certain that the clergy at that time did 
not at all doubt of the truth of it; we are sure it was their 
opinion ; since they subscribed it, though they did not think 
fit to publish it at first ; and though it was afterwards changed 
for another, that was the same in sense. 

In the treating of this Article, I shall first lay down the 
doctrine of this church, with the grounds of it; and then I 
shall examine the doctrine of the church of Rome, which must 
be done copiously; for next to the doctrine of infallibility, 
this is the most valued of all their other tenets ; this is the 
most important in itself, since it is the main part of their 
worship, and the chief subject of all their devotions. There 
is not any one thing in which both clergy and laity are more 
concerned; which is more generally studied, and for which 
they pretend they have more plausible colours, both from 
scripture and the fathers : and if sense and reason seem to 
press hard upon it, they reckon, that, as they understand the 
words of St. Paul, ^ every thought must be captivated into 2 Cor. x. 5. 
the obedience of faith.' 

In Order to the expounding our doctrine, wx must consider 
the occasion and the institution of this sacrament. The Jews 
were required once a year to meet at Jerusalem, in remem- 
brance of the deliverance of their fathers out of Egypt. 
Moses appointed that every family should kill a lamb, whose F^^od. xii. 
blood was to be sprinkled on their door-posts and lintels, and 
whose flesh they were to eat ; at the sight of which blood thus 
sprinkled, the destroying angel, that was to ])e sent out to kill 
the firstborn of every family in Egypt, was to pass over all the 
houses that were so marked : and from that passing by or over 
the Israelites, the lamb was called the Lord^s passover,^^ being 
then the sacrifice, and afterwards the memorial of that pass- 
over. The people of Israel were required to keep up the 
memorial of that transaction, by slaying a lamb before the 
place where God should set his name ; and by eating it up 
that night: they were also to eat with it a salad of bitter 

2 D 2 



404 



AN EXPOSITION OF 



A RT. herbs and unleavened bread ; and when they went to eat of 
XXVIII. the lamb^ they repeated these Avords of Moses; ^ that it was 
the Lord's passover/ Now though the first lamb that was 
killed in Egypt was indeed the sacrifice upon which God pro- 
mised to pass over their houses ; yet the lambs that were after- 
wards oifered were only the memorials of it ; though they still 
carried that name^ which was given to the first, and were 
called the Lord's passove7\ 

So that the Jews were in the paschal supper accustomed to 
call the memorial of a thing by the name of that of which it 
was the memorial : and as the deliverance out of Egypt was a 
type and representation of that greater deliverance that we 
were to have by the Messias^ the first lamb being the sacrifice 
of that deliverance^ and the succeeding lambs the memorials 
of it ; so, in order to this new and greater deliverance, Christ 
1 Cor.v. 7. himself was our '^passover, that was sacrificed for us he was 
John i. 29. the ^ Lamb of God' that was both to ^ take away the sins of 
the world/ and was to ' lead captivity captive f to bring us 
out of the bondage of sin and Satan into the obedience of his 
gospel. 

Compare He therefore chose the time of the passover, that he might 
Matt. XXVI. then offered up for us; and did institute this memorial of 
Mark xiv. it v/hile he was celebrating the Jewish pascha with his dis- 

22. ciples, who were so much accustomed to the forms and 
i^ukexxii. pi^j-ases of that supper, in which every master of a family did 
1 Cor. xi. officiate among his household, that it was very natural to them 

23. to understand all that our Saviour said or did according to 
those forms with which they were acquainted. 

There were after supper, upon a new covering of the table, 
loaves of unleavened bread, and cups of wine set on it ; in 
which, though the bread was very unacceptable, yet they 
drank liberally of the wine : Christ took a portion of that 
bread, and brake it, and gave it to his disciples, and said, 
^ This is my body which is broken for you : Do this in remem- 
brance of me.^ He did not say only, ^ This is my body,' but 
^ This is my body broken ;' so that his body must be under- 
stood to be there in its broken state, if the words are to be 
expounded literally. And no reason can be assigned why the 
word broken should be so separated from body ; or that the 
bread should be literally his body, and not literally his body 
broken : the whole period must be either literally true, or must 
be understood mystically. And if any will say, that his body 
cannot be there, but in the same state in which it is now in 
heaven ; and since it is not now broken, nor is the blood shed 
or separated from the body there, therefore the words must be 
understood thus ; ^ This is my body which is to be broken.' 
But from thence we argue, that since all is one period, it must 
be all understood in the same manner ; and since it is impos- 
sible that broken and shed can be understood literally of the 
body and blood, that therefore the whole is to be mystically 



THE XXXIX ARTICLES. 



405 



understood : and this appears more evident^ since the dis- ART. 
ciples^ Avho were naturally slow at understanding the easiest ^XVIII. 
mysteries that he opened to them^ must naturally have under- 
stood those words as they did the other words of the paschal 
supper^ ^ This is the Lord^s passover ;^ that is^ this is the 
memorial of it : and that the rather^ since Christ added these 
words^ ^ Do this in remembrance of me/ If they had under- 
stood them in any other sense, that must have surprised them, 
and naturally have led them to ask him many questions : 
which we find them doing upon occasions that were much 
less surprising, as appears by the questions in the 14th of St. 
John, that discourse coming probably immediately after this 
institution : whereas no question was asked upon this : so it is 
reasonable to conclude that they could understand these 
words, ^ This is my body,^ no other way, but as they under- 
stood that of the lamb, ^ This is the Lord^s passover.^ And 
by consequence, as their celebrating the pascha was a constant 
memorial of the deliverance out of Egypt, and was a symbo- 
lical action by which they had a title to the blessings of the 
covenant that Moses made with their fathers ; it was natural 
for them to conclude, that after Christ had made himself to 
be truly that, which the first lamb was in a type, the true 
sacrifice of a greater and better passover ; they were to com- 
memorate it, and to communicate in the benefits and effects of 
it, by continuing that action of taking, blessing, breaking, and 
distributing of bread : which w^as to be the memorial and the 
communion of his death in all succeeding ages. 

This will yet appear more evident from the second part of 
this institution : he took the cup and blessed it, and gave it 
to them, saying, ' This cup is the new testament,^ or new 
covenant, ^ in my blood : drink ye all of it.^ Or, as the other 
gospels report it, ^ This is my blood of the new testament, 
which is shed for many for the remission of sins.^ As Moses 
had enjoined the sprinkling of the blood of the lamb, so he 
himself sprinkled both the book of the law and all the people 
with the blood of calves and of goats, saying, ^ This is the Heb.ix.20< 
blood of the testament (or covenant) which God hath enjoined 
you.' The blood of the paschal lamb was the token of that 
covenant which God made then with them. 

The Jews were under a very strict prohibition of eating no 
blood at all : but it seems by the Psalms, that when they paid pg^i. cxvi. 
their vows unto God, they took in their hands ' a cup of sal- 
vation,' that is, of an acknowledgment of their salvation, and 
so were to rejoice before the Lord. 

These being the laws and customs of the Jews, they could 
not without horror have heard Christ, when he gave them the 
cup, say, ^ This is my blood the prohibition of blood was 
given in such severe terms ; as that ^ God would set his face I evit. vii 
against him that did eat blood, and cut him off from among ^^'-^ j\ 



406 



AN EXPOSITION OF 



ART. his people/* And this was so often repeated in the books of 
XXVII i. Moses^ that besides the natural horror which humanity gives 
at the mention of drinking a man's blood, it was a special 
part of their religion to make no use of blood : yet after all 
this, the disciples were not startled at it ; which shews that 
they must have understood it in such a way as was agreeable 
to the law and customs of their country : and since St. Luke 
and St. Paul report the words that our Saviour said when he 
gave it, differently from what is reported by St. Matthew and 
St. Mark, it is most probable that he spake both the one and 
the other; that he first said, ^ This is my blood,' and then, 
as a clearer explanation of it, he said, ^ This cup is the new 
testament in my blood :' the one being a more easy expres- 
sion, and in a style to which the Jews had been more accus- 
tomed. They knew that the blood of the lamb was sprinkled ; 
and by their so doing they entered into a covenant with God : 
and though the blood was never to be sprinkled after the first 
passover ; yet it was to be poured out before the Lord, in 
remembrance of that sprinkling in Egypt : in remembrance of 
that deliverance, they drank of the cup of blessing and salva- 
tion, and rejoiced before the Lord. So that they could not 
understand our Saviour otherwise, than that the cup so blessed 
was to be to them the assurance of a new testament or covenant^ 
vdiich was to be established by the blood of Christ; and 
which was to be shed : in lieu of which they were to drink 
this ' cup of blessing' and praise. 

According to their customs and phrases, the disciples could 
understand our Saviour's words in this sense, and in no other. 
So that if he had intended that they should have understood 
him otherwise, he must have expressed himself in another 
manner; and must have enlarged upon it, to have corrected 
those notions, into which it was otherwise most natural for 
Jews to have fallen. Here is also to be remembered that 
which was formerly observed upon the word broken, that if 
the w^ords are to be expounded literally, then if the cup is lite- 
rally the blood of Christ,' it must be his blood shed, poured 
out of his veins, and separated from his body. And if it is 
impossible to understand it so, we conclude that we are in the 

* ' Transubstantiation is built on this error ; that our Lord Jesus Christ did, 
on the night of his instituting this sacrament, eat his own flesh, and drink his own 
blood, and give both to his disciples. And this makes our Lorb a transgressor of 
the law of God, which forbids any man to eat blood, Levit. xvii. 14, " For it is the 
life of all flesh ; the blood of it is for the life thereof : therefore I said, unto the 
children of Israel, ye shall eat the blood of no manner of flesh : for the life 
of all flesh is the blood thereof : whosoever eateth it shall be cut oif," Perhaps 
you will say, that our Lord was not bound by this law, or that he had power to 
set it aside. He was bound by it inasmuch as he was the man Christ Jesus ; for 
it is written in GaL iv. 4, that he was, " made under the law." And although he 
had power to set aside the law, yet he did not do so, for he himself says in Matt. 
V. 17, " Think not that I am come to destroy the law, or the prophets -. J am not 
come todestroii, but tofuljil." The decree of the Apostles, Acts xv. 29, also binds 
the Christians to abstain from blood.' Page's Letters to a Romish Priest. — [Ed.] 



THE XXXIX ARTICLES. 



407 



right to understand the whole period in a mystical and figu- ART 
rative sense. And therefore since a man born and bred a XXVIII 
Jew, and more particularly accustomed to the paschal cere- 
monies, could not have understood our Saviour's words, 
chiefly at the time of that festivity, otherwise than of a new 
covenant that he was to make, in which his ^ body was to be 
broken,' and his ^ blood shed' for the 'remission of sins ;' and 
that he was to substitute bread and wine, to be the lasting 
memorials of it ; in the repeating of which, his disciples were 
to renew their covenant with God, and to claim a share in the 
blessings of it ; this, I say, was the sense that must naturally 
have occurred to a Jew; upon all this, we must conclude, 
that this is the true sense of these words ; or, that otherwise 
our Saviour must have enlarged more upon them, and ex- 
pressed his meaning more particularly. Since therefore he 
said no more than what, according to the ideas and customs 
of the Jews, must have been understood as has been explained, 
we must conclude, that it, and it only, is the true sense of 
them. 

But we must next consider the importance of a long dis- 
course of our Saviour's, set down by St. John, which seems John vi. 
such a preparation of his apostles to understand this insti- 32, 33. 
tution literally, that the weight of this argument must turn 
upon the meaning of that discourse. The design of that was 
to shew, that the doctrine of Christ was more excellent than 
the law of Moses ; that though Moses gave the Israelites 
manna from heaven to nourish their bodies, yet notwithstand- 
ing that ' they died in the wilderness :' but Christ was to give 
his followers such food that it should give them life ; so that 
if they '^did eat of it, they should never die :' where it is 
apparent, that the bread and nourishment must be such as 
the life was ; and that being eternal and spiritual, the bread 
must be so understood : for it is clearly expressed how that 
food was to be received ; ' he that believeth on me hath ever- ver. 40. 
lasting life.' 

Since then he had formerly said, that the bread which he 
was to give, should make them ' live for ever ;' and since here 
it is said, that this life is given by faith ; then this bread must 
be his doctrine : for, this is that which faith receives. And 
when the Jews desired him to give them evermore of that 
bread, he answered, ' I am the bread of life : he that comes to ver. 47, 48, 
me shall never hunger; and he that believeth on me shall 
never thirst.^ 

In these words he tells them that they received that bread 
by coming to him, and by believing on him. Christ caUs 
himself that bread, and says, that a '^man must eat thereof ;' 
which is plainly a figure : and if figures are confessed to be in 
some parts of their discourse, there is no reason to deny that 
they run quite through it. Christ says, that this ' bread was 
his flesh, which he was to give for the life of the world;' 



408 



AN EXPOSITION OF 



A R T. which can only be meant of his offering himseK up upon the 
XXVIII. cross for the sins of the world. The Jews murmured at this^ 

and said^ ^ How can this man give us his flesh to eat ?^ To 
Jobnvi. which our Saviour answers, that ^except they did eat the 
53, 54, 55. flesh and drink the blood of the Son of man, they had no life 

in them/ 

Now if these words are to be understood of a literal eating 
of his flesh in the sacrament, then no man can be saved that 
does not receive it : it was a natural consequence of the 
expounding these words of the sacrament to give it to children, 
since it is so expressly said, that life is not to be had without 
it. But the words that come next carry this matter further ; 
^ Whoso eateth my flesh, and drinketh my blood, hath eternal 
life.^ It is plain that Christ is here speaking of that, without 
which no man can have life, and by which all who received it 
have lift: if therefore this is to be expounded of the sacrament, 
none can be damned that does receive it, and none can be 
saved that receives it not. 

Therefore since eternal life does always follow the ^eating 
of Christ^s flesh,^ and the ^drinking his blood,^ and cannot be 
had without it ; then this must be meant of an internal and 
spiritual feeding on him : for, as none are saved without that, 
so all are saved that have it. This is yet clearer from the 
words that follow, ^ my flesh is meat indeed, and my blood is 
drink indeed it may well be inferred, that Christ^s flesh is 
eaten in the same sense, in which he says it is meat : now cer- 
tainly it is not literally meat ; for none do say that the body 
is nourished by it; and yet there is somewhat emphatical in 
this, since the word indeed is not added in vain, but to give 
weight to the expression, 
ver. 56. It is also said, ' he that eats my flesh, and drinks my blood, 
dwells in me, and I in him.^ Here the description seems to 
be made of that eating and drinking of his flesh and blood ; 
that it is such as the mutual indwelling of Christ and believers 
is. Now that is certainly only internal and spiritual, and not 
carnal or literal : and therefore such also must the eating and 
drinking be. 

All this seems to be very fully confirmed from the con- 
clusion of that discourse, which ought to be considered as the 
key to it all; for when the Jews were offended at the hardness 
ver. 63. of Christ's discourse, he said, ^It is the spirit that quickeneth; 

the flesh profiteth nothing : the words I speak unto you, they 
are spirit, and they are life:^ which do plainly import, that 
his former discourse was to be understood in a spiritual sense, 
that it was a divine Spirit that quickened them, or gave them 
that eternal Hfe, of which he had been speaking ; and that the 
flesh, his natural body, was not the conveyer of it. 

All that is confirmed by the sense in which we find eating 
and drinking frequently used in the scriptures, according to 
■y^hat is observed by Jewish writers ; they stand for wisdom^ 



THE XXXIX ARTICLES. 



409 



learning, and all intellectual apprehensions, through which the ART. 
soul of man is preserved, by the perfection that is in them, as 
the body is pfeser^-ed by food : So, ^ Buy and eat : eat fat 
things ; drink of wine well refined/ 

Maimonides also observes, that whensoever eating and More Ne- 
drinking are mentioned in the Book of Proverbs, they are to vochim. 
be understood of wisdom and the law: and after he has 
brought several places of scripture to this purpose, he con- 
cludes, that because this acceptation of eating occurs so often, 
and is so manifest, as if it were the primary and most proper 
sense of the ivord; therefore hunger and thirst stand for a pri- 
vation of wisdom and understanding. And the Chaldee para- 
phrast turns these words, ye shall draw water out of the Isa. xii. 3 
w^ells of salvation;' thus, '^ye shall receive a new doctrine with 
joy from some select persons/ 

Since then the figure of eating and drinking was used among 
the Jews, for receiving and imbibing a doctrine ; it was no 
wonder if our Saviour pursued it in a discourse, in which 
there are several hints given to shew us that it ought to be 
so understood. 

It is further observable, that our Saviour did frequently 
follow that common way of instruction among the eastern 
nations, by figures, that to us would seem strong and bold. 
These were much used in those parts to excite the attention 
of the hearers ; and they are not always to be severely ex- 
pounded according to the full extent that the words will bear. 
The parable of the unjust judge, of the unjust steward, of the 
ten virgins, of plucking out the right eye, and cutting oiF the 
right hand or foot, and several others, might be instanced. 
Our Saviour in these considered the genius of those to whom 
he spoke : so that these figures must be restrained only to 
that particular, for which he meant them ; and must not be 
stretched to every thing to which the words may be carried. 
We find our Saviour compares himself to a great many things ; 
to a vine, a door, and a way : and therefore w^hen the scope of 
a discourse does plainly run in a figure, we are not to go and 
descant on every word of it ; much less may any pretend to 
say, that some parts of it are to be understood literally, 
and some parts figuratively. 

For instance, if that chapter of St. John is to be understood 
literally, then Christ^s flesh and blood must be the nourishment 
of our bodies, so as to be meat indeed; and that we shall 
^ never hunger any more, and never die after' w^e have eat of 
it. If therefore all do confess that those expressions are 
to be understood figuratively, then we have the same reason 
to conclude that the whole is a figure : for it is as rea- 
sonable for us to make all of it a figure, as it is for them 
to make those parts of it a figure which they cannot con- 
veniently expound in a literal sense. From all which it is 
abundantly clear that nothing can be drawn from that dis- 



410 



AN EXPOSITION OF 



ART. course of our Saviour's^ to make it reasonable to believe that 
tbe words of the institution of this sacrament ought to be 
literally understood : on the contrary, our Saviour himself 
calls the wine^ after those words had been used by him, the 
fruit of the vine/ which is as strict a form of speech as can 
well be imagined, to make us understand that the nature of 
the wine was not altered : and when St. Paul treats of it 
in those two chapters, in which all that is left us besides the 
history of the institution concerning the sacrament is to 
be found, he calls it five times bread, and never once the 

Cor. X. jjQ^iy qJ^ Christ, In one place he calls it the ^ communion 
of the body, as the cup is the communion of the blood of 
Christ/ Which is rather a saying, that it is in some sort, 
and after a manner, the body and the blood of Christ, than 
that it is so strictly speaking. 

If this sacrament had been that mysterious and uncon- 
ceivable thing which it has been since believed to be, we 
cannot imagine but that the books of the New Testament, 
the Acts of the Apostles, and their Epistles, should have 
contained fuller explanations of it, and larger instructions 
about it. 

There is enough indeed said in them to support the plain 
and natural sense that we give to this institution; and be- 
cause no more is said, and the design of it is plainly declared 
to be to remember Christ^s death, and to ^ shew it forth till 
he come,^ we reckon that by this natural simplicity, in which 
this matter is delivered to us, we are very much confirmed in 
that plain and easy signification, which we put upon our 
Saviour's words. Plain things need not be insisted on : but 
if the most sublime and wonderful thing in the world seems 
to be delivered in words that yet are capable of a lower and 
plainer sense, then unless there is a concurrence of other cir- 
cumstances, to force us to that higher meaning of them, we 
ought not to go into it ; for simple things prove themselves : 
whereas the more extraordinary that any thing is, it requires 
a fulness and evidence in the proof, proportioned to the 
uneasiness of conceiving or believing it. 

We do therefore understand our Saviour^s institution thus> 
that as he was to give ^ his body to be broken^ and his ^ blood 
to be shed for our sins,^ so he intended that this his death 
and suffering should be still commemorated by all such as 
look for ' remission of sins^ by it, not only in their thoughts 
and devotions, but in a visible representation : which he ap- 
pointed should be done in symbols, that should be both very 
plain and simple, and yet very expressive of that which he 
intended should be remembered by them. 

Bread is the plainest food that the body of man can receive, 
and wine was the common nourishing liquor of that country ; 
so he made choice of these materials, and in them appointed 
a representation and remembrance to be made of his body 



THE XXXIX ARTICLES. 



411 



broken, and of his blood shed ; that is^ of his death and suffer- ART. 
ings till his second coming : and he obhged his followers to 
repeat this frequently. In the doing of it according to his 
institution, they profess the behef of his death, for the remis- 
sion of their sins, and that they look for his second coming. 

This does also import, that as bread and wine are the 
simplest of bodily nourishments, so his death is that v/hich 
restores the souls of those that do beheve in him : as bread 
and wine convey a vital nourishment to the body, so the 
sacrifice of his death conveys somewhat to the soul that is 
vital, that fortifies and exalts it. And as water in baptism 
is a natural emblem of the purity of the Christian rehgion, 
bread and wine in the eucharist are the emblems of somewhat 
that is derived to us, that raises our faculties, and fortifies all 
our powers. 

St, Paul does very plainly tell us, that ^ unworthy receivers,^ i Cor. xi. 
that did neither examine nor discern themselves, nor yet dis- 
cern the Lord's body, ^ were guilty of the body and blood of 
the Lord, and did eat and drink their own damnation that 
is, such as do receive it without truly believing the Christian 
religion, v/ithout a grateful acknowledgment of Christ^s death 
and sufferings, mthout feeling that they are walking suitably 
to this religion that they profess, and without that decency and 
charity, which becomes so holy an action; but that receive 
the bread and wine only as bare bodily nourishments, \vithout 
considering that Christ has instituted them to be the memo- 
rials of his death ; such persons are guilty of the body and 
blood of Christ : that is, they are guilty either of a profana- 
tion of the sacrament of his body and blood, or they do in a 
manner crucify him again, and put him to an open shame ; 
when they are so faulty as the Corinthians were, in observing 
this holy institution with so little reverence, and with such 
scandalous disorders, as those were for which he reproached 
them. 

Of such as did thus profane this institution, he says further, 
':hat they do eat and drink their own damnation, or judgment ; 
that is, punishment : for the word rendered damnation signifies 
sometimes only temporary punishments. 

So it is said, that ^judgment (the word is the same) must l Pet. iv. 
begin at the house of God God had sent such judgments 
upon the Corinthians for those disorderly practices of theirs, 
that some had fallen sick, and others had died, perhaps by 
reason of their drinking to excess in those feasts : but as 
God^s judgments had come upon them ; so the words that 
follov/ shew that these judgments were only chastisements, 
in order to the delivering them from the condemnation under 
which the world lies. It being said, that ^ when we are 
judged, we are chastened of the Lord, that we should not be 
condemned with the world.^ Therefore though God may very 
justly and even in great mercy punish men who profane this 



412 



AN EXPOSITION OF 



ART. holy ordinance; yet it is an unreasonable terror, and con-c 
trary to the nature of the gospel covenant, to carry this so 
far, as to think that it is an unpardonable sin ; which is punished 
with eternal damnation. 

We have now seen the ill effects of unworthy receiving, and 
from hence according to that gradation, that is to be observed 
in the mercy of God in the gospel, that it not only holds a 
proportion with his justice, but ^rejoiceth over it,^ we may 
well conclude that the good effects upon the worthy receiving 
of it are equal if not superior to the bad effects upon the un- 
worthy receiving of it : and that the nourishment which the 
types, the bread and the wine, give the body, are answered in 
the effects, that the thing signified by them has upon the 
soul. 

In explaining this there is some diversity : some teach that 
this memorial of the death of Christ, when seriously and de- 
voutly gone about, when it animates our faith, increases our 
repentance, and inflames our love and zeal, and so unites us 
to God and to our brethren; that, I say, when these foUow 
it, which it naturally excites in all holy and good minds, then 
they draw down the returns of prayer, and a further increase 
of grace in us ; according to the nature and promises of the 
new covenant : and in this they put the virtue and efficacy of 
this sacrament. 

But others think that all this belongs only to the inward 
acts of the mind, and is not sacramental : and therefore they 
think that the eucharist is a federal act, in which as on the 
one hand we renew our baptismal covenant with God, so on 
the other hand we receive in the sacrament a visible con- 
signation, as in a tradition by a symbol or pledge, of the 
blessings of the new covenant, which they think is somewhat 
superadded to those returns of our prayers, or of other in- 
ward acts. 

This they think answers the nourishment which the body 
receives from the symbols of bread and wine; and stands in 
opposition to that of the unworthy receivers being guilty of 
the body and blood of the Lord; and their eating and drink- 
ing that which will bring some judgment upon themselves. 
^Cor. X. Tf^jg they also found on these words of St. Paul, ^ The cup of 
blessing that we bless, is it not the communion of the blood 
of Christ? the bread which we break, is it not the commu- 
nion of the body of Christ ?' 

St. Paul considers the bread which was offered by the peo- 
ple as an emblem of their unity, that as there was one loaf, so 
they were one body ; and that they were all partakers of that 
one loaf : from hence it is inferred, that since the word ren- 
dered communion signifies a communication in fellowship, or 
partnership, that therefore the meaning of it is, that in the 
sacrament there is a distribution made in that symbolical 
action of the death of Christ, and of the benefits and effects 



THE XXXIX ARTICLES. 



413 



of it. ^ The communion of the Holy Ghost' is a common ART. 
sharing in the effusion of the Spirit ; the same is meant by ^J^vm. 
thatj ' if there is any fellowship of the Spirit that is^ if we 2 Cor. xiii. 
do all partake of the same Spirit^ we are said to have a ' fel- H. 
lowship in the sufferings of Christ/ in which everyone must g* 
take his share. ^ The communication^' or fellowship, ^ of the phiLiii.io.* 
mystery of the gospel/ was its being shared equally among 
both Jews and Gentiles ; and the fellowship in Avhich the first 
converts to Christianity lived, was their liberal distribution 
to one another, they holding all things in common. In these 
and some other places it is certain, that communion signifies 
somewhat that is more real and effectual, than merely men's 
owning themselves to be joined together in a society ; which it 
is true it does also often signify : and therefore they conclude, 
that as in bargains or covenants, the ancient method of them 
before writings were invented was the mutual delivering of 
some pledges, which were the symbols of that faith, which was 
so plighted, instead of which the sealing and delivering of 
writings is now used among us ; so our Saviour instituted 
this in compliance with our frailty, to give us an outward and 
sensible pledge of his entering into covenant with us, of which 
the bread and wine are constituted the symbols. 

Others think, that by the communion of the body and blood 
of Christ can only be meant the joint owning of Christ and of 
his death, in the receiving the sacrament ; and that no com- 
munication nor partnership can be inferred from it : because 
St. Paul brings it in to shew the Corinthians how detestable 
a thing it was for a Christian to join in the idols' feasts ; that 
it was to be a ^ partaker with devils :' so they think that the 
fellowship or communion of Christians in the sacrament must 
be of the same nature with the ^ fellowship of devils' in acts 
of idolatry : which consisted only in their associating them- 
selves with those that worshipped idols ; for that upon the 
matter was the worshipping of devils : and this seems to be ^ ^ 
confirmed by that which is said of the Jews, that they who 13, 20. 
did eat of the sacrifices were partakers of the altar / which it 
seems can signify no more but that they professed that reli- 
gion of which the altar was the chief instrument ; the sacrifices 
being offered there. 

To all this it may be replied, that it is reasonable enough 
to believe, that according to the power which God suffered 
the Devil to exercise over the idolatrous world, there might 
be some enchantment in the sacrifices offered to idols, and 
that the Devil might have some power over those that did 
partake of them : and in order to this, St. Paul removed an 
objection that might have been made, that there could be no 
harm in their joining to the idol feasts ; for ^ an idol was no- 
thing / and so that which was offered to an idol could contract 
no defilement from the idol, it being nothing. Now if the 
meaning of their being ' partakers with devils' imports only 



414 



AN EXPOSITION OF 



ART. their joining themselves in acts of fellowship with idolaters, 
then the sin of this would have easily appeared^ without such 
a reinforcing of the matter ; for though an idol was nothing, 
yet it was still a great sin to join in the acts that were meant 
to be the worship of this nothing ; this was a dishonouring of 
God^ and a debasing of man. But St. Paul seems to carry 
the argument further ; that how true soever it was that the 
idol was nothing, that is, a dead and lifeless thing, that had no 
virtue nor operation, and that by consequence could derive 
nothing to the sacrifice that was offered to it ; yet since those 
idols were the instruments by which the Devil kept the world 
in subjection to him, all such, as did partake in their sacrifices 
might come under the effects of that magic, that might be 
exerted about their temples or sacrifices : by which the credit 
of idolatry was much kept up. 

And though every Christian had a sure defence against the 
powers of darkness, as long as he continued true to his reli- 
gion, yet if he v^^ent out of that protection into the empire of 
the Devil, and joined in the acts that were as a homage to 
him, he then fell within the reach of the Devil, and might 
justly fear his being brought into a partnership of those 
magical possessions or temptations that might be suffered to 
fall upon such Christians, as should associate themselves in 
so detestable a service. 
lCor.x.18, In the same sense it was also said, ' that all the Israelites 
who did eat of the sacrifices were partakers of the altar that 
is, that all of them who joined in the acts of that religion, such 
as the offering their peace-ofFerings, for of those of that kind 
they might only eat, all these were partakers of the altar f 
that is, of all the blessings of their religion, of all the expia- 
tions, the burnt- offerings and sin-ofFerings, that were offered 
on the altar, for the sins of the whole congregation : for that 
as a great stock went in a common dividend among such as 
observed the precepts of that law, and joined in the acts of 
worship prescribed by it : thus it appears that such as joined 
in the acts of idolatry became partakers of all that influence 
that devils might have over those sacrifices ; and ail that 
continued in the observances of the Mosaical law, had thereby 
a partnership) in the expiations of the altar : so likewise all 
Christians who receive this sacrament worthily, have by their 
so doing a share in that which is represented by it, the death 
of Christ, and the expiation and other benefits that follow it. 

This seemed necessary to be fully explained : for this matter, 
how plain soever in itself, has been made very dark, by the 
ways in which some have pretended to open it. With this I 
conclude all that belongs to the first part of the Article, and 
that which was first to be explained of our doctrine concerning 
the sacrament : by which we assert a real p}resence of the body 
and blood of Christ : but not of his body as it is now glorified 
in heaven, but of his body as it was broken on the cross, when 



THE XXXIX ARTICLES. 



415 



his ^ blood was shed' and separated from it: that is, his ART. 
death, with the merit and elFects of it, are in a visible and ^^^'^^^ 
federal act offered in this sacrament to all worthy believers. 

By real we miderstand true, in opposition both to fiction 
and imagination : and to those shadows that were in the 
Mosaical dispensation, in which the manna, the rock, the 
brazen serpent, but most eminently the cloud of glory, 
were the types and shadows of the Messias that was to come : 
with whom came ' grace and truth ;' that is, a most wonderful 
manifestation of the mercy or grace of God, and a verifying 
of the promises made under the Law : in this sense we acknow- 
ledge a real presence of Christ in the sacrament : though we 
are convinced that our first reformers judged right concerning 
the use of the phrase real presence, that it were better to be 
let fall than to be continued, since the use of it, and that idea 
which does naturally arise from the common acceptation of 
it, may stick deeper, and feed superstition more, than all 
those larger explanations that are given to it can be able to 
cure. 

But howsoever in this sense it is innocent of itself, and may 
be lawfully used; though perhaps it were more cautiously 
done not to use it, since advantages have been taken from 
it to urge it further than we intend it ; and since it has been 
a snare to some. 

I go in the next place to explain the doctrine of the church 
of Rome concerning this sacrament. Transubstantiation does 
express it in one word : but that a full idea may be given 
of this part of their doctrine, I shall open it in all its branches 
and consequences. 

The matter of this sacrament is not bread and tome : for 
they are annihilated when the sacrament is made. They are 
only the remote matter, out of which it is made : but when 
the sacrament is made, they cease to be ; and instead of them 
their outward appearances or accidents do only remain: which 
though they are no substances, yet are supposed to have a 
nature and essence of their own, separable from matter : and 
these appearances, with the body of Christ under them, are 
the matter of the sacrament. 

Now though the natural and visible body of Christ could 
not be the sacrament of his body, yet they think his real body, 
being thus veiled under the appearances of bread and wine, 
may be the sacrament of his glorified body. 

Yet, it seeming somewhat strange to make a true body the 
sacrament of itself, they would willingly put the sacrament in 
the appearances ; but that would sound very harsh, to make 
accidents which are not matter to be the matter of the sacra- 
ment : therefore since these words. This is my body, must be 
literally understood, the matter must be the true body of 
Christ ; so that Chris fs body is the sacrament of his body, 

Christ's body, though now in heaven, is, as they think. 



ART. presented in every place where a true consecration is m^de« 
^XVIR ^j^j though it is in heaven in an extended state, as all other 
bodies are, yet they think that extension may be separated 
from matter, as well as the other appearances or accidents are 
believed to be sepai^ated from it. And whereas our souls are 
beheved to be so in our bofhes, that though the whole souLp 
in the whole body, yet all the soul is believed to be in evex^j 
part of it ; but- so, tiiat if any part of the body is separatS 
from the rest, the souL is not divided, being one single sujg- 
stance, but retires baclv into the rest ^)f the body : th^ 
apprehend that Christ's body is present after the manner of^ 
spirit, without extension, or the filling of space; so that tife 
space which the appearances possess is still a vacuunv .ar 
only filled -by the accidents: for a body without extensiQ:g, 
as they suppose Christ'S|J|o^j to be, can never fill i^^jiji 
'extension^"' ^ ^ , - t .-t d:^iw 

Christ's body in the sacrament is denominated one; yet 
still, as the species are broken and divided, isb man^^TreW bo- 
dies are divided from one another ; every crumb of bread and 
drop of mne that is separated from the whole, is a new body, 
and yet without a new miracle, all being done in consequence 
of the first great one that was all at once wrought. 

The body of Christ continues in this state as long as the 
accidents remain in theirs ; but how it should altex is not easy 
to apprehend: the corruption of all other accidents arises froiia 
a change in the common substance, out of which new acci- 
dents do arise, while the old ones vanish; but accidents 
without a subject may seem more fixed and stable : yet tli^y 
are not so, but are as subject to corruption as other accideiitf 
are : howsoever, as long as the alteration is not total ; though 
the bread should be both musty and mouldy, and the ^dftp 
both dead and sour, yet as long as the bread and wine arestifl 
so far preserved, or rather that their appearances subsist^ s© 
long the body of Christ remains : but when they are so far 
altered that they seem to be no more bread and wine, an<:l 
that they are corrupted either in part or in whole, Christ^s 
body is withdrawn, either in part or in whole, 
^fjf, Jt is- a great miracle to make the accidents of bread and. 
'wine subsist without a subject; yet the new accidents that 
arise upon these accidents, such as mouldiness or sourness, 
came on without a miracle, but they do not know how. 
When the mnin accidents are destroyed, then the presence 
of Christ ceases : and a new miracle must be supposed to 
produce new matter, for the filling up of that space which 
the substance of bread and wine did formerly fill ; and which 

was all this while possessed by ^ r?^9lii4;?J^|^*!,f,i-§%S(^%^?^^Jil^ 
matter of this sacrament. ,i,t Bob ^AboJ. has JaibisH "io olmnsTio ©rii 
The form of it is in the %btds of corisecratibn^' wMcfi 
though they sound declarative, as if the thing were already 
done ; ' This is my body,' and This is my blood ;' yet they 



THE XXXIX ARTICLES. 



417 



believe them to be productive. But whereas the common A R T. 
notion of the form of a sacrament is, that it sanctifies and ap- ^XVII 
plies the matter ; here the former matter is so far from being 
consecrated by it, that it is annihilated, and new matter is 
not sanctified, but brought thither or produced : and whereas 
whensoever we say of any thing, this is, we suppose that the 
thing is, as we say it is, before we say it; yet here all the 
while that this is a saying till the last syllable is pronounced, 
it is not that wdiich it is said to be, but in the minute in which 
the last syllable is uttered, then the change is made : and of 
this they are so firmly persuaded, that they do presently pay 
all that adoration to it, that they would pay to the person of 
Jesus Christ if he were visibly present: though the whole 
virtue of the consecration depends on the intention of a priest: 
so that he with a cross intention hinders all this series of mi- 
racles, as he fetches it all on, by letting his intention go along 
with it.* 

* The adoration of the Eucharist is thus decreed by the council of Trent . 

' Be cultu et veneratione huic sanctissimo sacramento exhibenda. 

* Nullus itaque dubitandi locus relinquitur, quin omnes Christi fideles pro more 
in catholica ecclesia semper recepto latrise cultum, qui vero Deo debetur, huic sanc- 
tissimo sacramento in veneratione exhibeant : neque enim ideo minus est adoran- 
dum, quod fuerit a Christo Domino, ut sumatur, institutum : nam ilium eundem 
Deum prsesentem in eo adesse credimus, quern Pater seternus introducens in orbem 
terrarum, dicit : Et adorent eum omnes angeli Dei.' Sessio xiii. cap. 5. 

' Si quis dixerit, in sancto encharistise sacramento Christum unigenitum Dei 
filium non esse cultu latriee, etiam externo, adorandum, atque ideo nec festiva pecu- 
liar! celebritate venerandum, neque in processionibus secimdum laudabilem et 
universalem ecclesise sanctae ritum et consuetudinem, solemnitur circumgestandum, 
vel non publico, ut adoretur, populo proponendura, et ejus adoratores esse idolo- 
latras : anathema sit.' Sessio xiii. canon 6. 

The novelty and danger of this adoration is clearly and forcibly stated in the 
following : 

' Now touching the adoration of the sacrament, Mr. Harding is not able to shew, 
neither any commandment of Christ, nor any word or example of the Apostles, or 
ancient Fathers concerning the same. It is a thing very lately devised by pope 
Honorius, about the year of our Lord 1226. Afterward increased by the new 
solemn feast of Corpus Christi day by pope Urbanus, anno 1264. And last of all 
confirmed for ever by multitudes of pardons in the council of Vienna by pope Cle- 
ment V. anno 1310. The church of Asia and Grsecia never received it until this 
day. The matter is great, and cannot be attempted without great danger. To 
give the honour of God to a creature, that is no God, it is manifest idolatry. And 
all idolaters, a« St. John saith, shall have their portion in the lake burning with fire, 
and brimstone, which is the second death.' 

' The greatest doctors of that side say, that, unless transubstantiation be con- 
cluded, the people cannot freely worship the sacrament, without occasion of 
idolatry. Now it is known that transubstantiation is a new fantasy, newly de- 
vised in the council of Lateran, (a.d. 1215) in Rome. And Doctor Tonstal saith, 
that before that time it was free and lawful for any man to hold the contrary. 
Wherefore it is likely, that before that time, there was no such adoration. Other- 
wise, it must needs have been with great danger of idolatry. But after that, as it 
is said before, pope Honorius took order and gave commandment, that the people 
should adore : pope Urbanus added thereto a new solemn feast of Corpus Christi 
day : and pope Clement confirmed the same with great store of pardons. This is 
the antiquity and petite degree of this kind of adoration. The great danger and 
horror of idolatry that hereof riseth, Mr. Harding thinketh may easily be solved by 
the example of Rachel, and Leah : and thus he bringeth in God's mystical pro- 
vidence for defence of open error : and thus instead of Rachel to take Leah, and to 
honour a creatiure instead of God. 

' Wherein it shall be necessary briefly to touch, how many ways, even by their 

2 E 



418 



ART. If it ^m^y be said of some doctrines, that the bare exposing 
^XVHJ. them is a most effectual confutation of them ; certainly, thai 
islmore appMcable^to xtliis^ than to any other that can be ima- 
gined : for though I haveili i stating it considered some of the 
mokt ,iiii|»ofMit difiioulties, which are seen and confessed: by 
the schoohaiien; themselves, who have poised all these with 
mUch exactness and sitbtilty ; yet I have passed over a gr^^ 
many more, with which those that deal in school-divinity wllj 
fiiid enough to exercise both their thoughts and their patiei|(^ 
They . run but in many subtilties, coiicerning the accideixtg 
hotYi^primarp md secondary; concerning the ubication, 
production and reproduction of bodies; concerning the peng^y 
trability 6f matter-, aiid the i^rganizationt of a penetrable 
concerning the way of the destruction of the species ; cojjr 
cernihg the words of consecration ; concerning the water thai 
is mixed with the wine, whether it is first chailged by natural 
causes into wine ; and since nothing but wine is transubstarit 
tiated, what becomes of such particles of water that are norf 
turned into wine ? What is the grace produced by the saorat 
ment, what is the effect of the presence of Ghlist so lon^,^ 
he is in the body of the communicant ; What is got by his prpr 
sence, and what is lost by his absence ? In a word, let a mkn 
read the shortest body of school-divinity that he cail find, asd 
he will see in it a vast number of other difficulties in tbk 
matter, of which their own authors are aware, which I hpm 
quite passed over. For when this doctrine fell into the hant^ 



own doctrine, the poor simple people may be deceived, arid yield the hon6unjTf 
God to that thing, that in their own judgment is no God. Thus therefore thejjr 
say, if the priest chance to forget to put wine into the cup, and so pass over tfie 
consecration without wine: or, if the bread be made of any other than wheatien 
flour, which may possibly and easily happen : or, if there be s6 much water in 
quantity, that it overcome and alter the nature of the wine: or, if the wine be 
changed into vinegar, and therefore cannot serve to consecration : or, if there be 
thirteen cakes upon the table, and the priest for his consecration determine ohly 
upon twelve, in which case they say not one of them all is consecrated : or, if thfe 
priest dissemble, or leave out the words of consecration : or, if he forget ijt, q?* 
mind it not, or think not of it : In every one of these, and other like defects, there 
is nothing consecrate, and therefore the people in these cases, honouring the sacf 
ment, by their own doctrine giveth the glory of God to a creature : whicb:i is 
undoubted idolatry. And that the folly thereof may the better appear, one pf 
them writeth thus: " Quod si Sacerdos," &c. If the priest having before him 
sundry cakes at the time of consecration, do mind only and precisely to consecrate 
that only cake that he holdeth in his hand, some say, the rest be not consecrate!: 
but say thou, as Duns saith, they be all consecrate : yea, further he saith. If th© 
priest do precisely determine to consecrate only the one half part of the cake, and 
not likewise the other half, that then, the cake being whole, that one part only is 
consecrate, and not the other. Pope Gregory saith. If the priest be a known 
adulterer, or fornicator, and continue still in the same, that his blessing shall he 
turned into cursing : and that the people knowing his life, and nevertheless Tiearing 
his mass, commit idolatry. 

' In this case standeth the simple people : so many ways and so easily they may 
be deceived. For notwithstanding they may, in some part, know the priest's life 
and open dealing, yet how can they be assured of his secret words, of his intention, 
of his mind, and of his will ? or, if they cannot, hbw can they safely adore the 
sacrament, without doubt and danger of idolatry?' Jewel. — [En.] 



419 



if «tt«^4Srt^*Esact men;, they^ w^?^ soon sensible of all the c6n- MWV^ 
Sequences that must needs follow npon it, and have pursued XXVriJ 
all these with a closeness far beyond any thing tha-t is to be 
fomid among the writers of our side. i^ A ? b^^ai^ 

But that they might have a salvo for every difficulty, they 
framed a new model of philosophy; new theories were in- 
vented, of substances and accidents, of matter and of spirits, 
of extension, ubication, and impenetrability ; and by the new 
definitions and maxims to which they accustomed men in thd 
study of philosophy, they prepared them to swallow down al 
this more easily, when they should come to the study of 
divinity. q 
The infallibility of the church that had expressly defined it| 
was to bear a great part of the burden ; if the church was ine 
faUible, and if they were that church, then it could be nci 
longer doubted of. In dark ages miracles and visions came 
in abundantly to support it: in ages of more light, the infinite 
|>ower of God, the words of the institution, it being the testa^f 
ment of our Saviour then dying, and soon after confirmed 
iwith his blood, were things of great pomp, and such as were 
apt to strike men that could not distinguish between thd 
shows and the strength of arguments. But when all om 
senses, all our ideas of things, rise up so strongly against 
every part of this chain of wonders^ we ought at least 
expect proofs suitable to the difficulty of believing sucltra 
dat contradiction to our reasons, as well as to our senses.;, :! 
_We have no other notion of accidents, but that they are 
the different sliapes or modes oT matter ; and that they~Wve 

being distinct from the body in which they appear 
have no other notion of a body but that it is an extended stfbi- 
stance, made up of impenetrable parts, one without anothe^^| 
every one of which fills its proper space: we have no othm 
notion of a body^s being in a place but that it fills it, and is sO 
in it as that it can be nowhere else at the same time : and 
though we can very easily apprehend that an infinite power 
can both create and annihilate beings at pleasure; yet w€ 
cannot apprehend that God does change the essences of 
things, and so make them to be contrary to that nature an^ 
sort of being of which he has made them. vmohnu 

Another argument against transubstantiation is this ;' 
has made us capable to know and serve him: and, in order to 
that, he has put some senses in us, which are the conveyances 
of many subtile motions to our brains, that give us apprehen- 
sions of the objects which by those motions are represented 
to us. 

When those motions are lively, and the object is in a diie 
distance; when we feel that neither our organs nor our facul- 
ties are under any disorder, and when the impression is cleai* 
a^d Strpijg, Me ^gtei-iMned by \%; m m^mk]^$MAf^}% 



ART. SO. Wljen we see the sun risen, ^nd all is bright about us, it 
VIII. not possible for us to think that it is dark night ; no autho- 

_ . rity dan impose it on us; we are not so far the masters of ojir 

own thoughts, as to force ourselves to think it, though %^ 
"v^oxilid ; for G6d has made us of such a nature, that we ai;e 
determined by such an evidence, and cannot contradict it 
When an object is at too great a distance, we may mistake ; a 
weakness or an ill disposition in our sight may misrepresent 
it ; and a false medium, water, a cloud, or a glass, may give it 
a tincture or cast, so that we may see cause to correct our 
first apprehensions, in isome sensations : but when we have 
duly examined every thing, when we have corrected one sense 
by another, we grow at last to be so sure, by the constitution 
of that nature that God has given us, that we cannot doubt, 
much less believe, in contradiction to the express evidence of 
our senses. 

It is by this evidence only that God convinces the world of 
the authority of those whom he sends to speak in his name; 
he gives them a power to work miracles^ which is an appeal 
to the senses of mankind ; and it is the highest appeal thai: 
can be made ; for thpse who stood out against the conviction 
of Christ's miracles, had no cloak for their sins. It is the ut- 
most conviction that God offers, or that man can pretend to : 
from all which we must infer this, that either our senses in 
their clearest apprehensions, or rather representations of 
things, must be infallible, or we must throw up all faith and 
certainty ; since it is not possible for us to receive the evi- 
dence that is given us of any thing but by our senses; and 
since we do naturally acquiesce in that evidence, we must 
acknowledge that God has so made us, that this is his voice 
in us; because it is the voice of those faculties that he has put 
in us ; and is the only way by which we can find out truth, 
and be led by it : and if our faculties fail us in any one thing, 
so that God should reveal to us any thing, that did plainly 
contradict our faculties, he should thereby give us a right 
to disbeheve them for ever. 

If they can mistake when they bring any object to us with 
the fullest evidence that, they can give, we can never depend 
upon them, nor be certain of any thing, because they shew it. 
Nay, we are not and cannot be bound to beheve that, nor any 
other revelation that God may make to convince us. We 
can only receive a revelation by hearing or reading, by our 
ears or our eyes. So if any part of this revelation destroys 
the certainty of the evidence, that our senses, our eyes, or 
our ears, give us, it destroys itself : for we cannot be bound to 
believe it upon the evidence of our senses, if this is a part of 
it, that our senses are not to be trusted. Nor will this matter 
be healed, by saying, that certainly we must believe God. 
more than our senses : and therefore, if he has revealed any 
thing to us, that is contrary to their evidence, we must as to 



iL^pjj tuodfi phVfL^^ {IbA)iw -nasrr rm? grit oo!^ ojr ffQtlW o^ T i\ 
tnpi particular believe (jrod beiore our senses ; but that as to A\9.T/. 
^11 other tilings where we have not an express revelation to xxvill. 
tiie contrar}^, we must still believe our senses. 

't'Kere is a difference to be made between that feeble evi- 
(jience that our senses give us of remote objects^ or those loose 
inferences that we may make from a slight view of things^ 
^nd the full eA^idence that sense gives us ; as when we see and 
smell to^ we handle and taste the same object : this is the voiqe 
of God to us; he has made us so that we are determined hy: 
it : and as we should not beheve a prophet that wTought ever 
so many miracles^ if he should contradict any part of that 
which God had already revealed ; so we cannot be bound to 
beheve a revelation contrary to our sense; because that werg 
to believe God in contradiction to himself; which is impos;? 
sible to be true. For we should believe that revelation cer^ 
tainly upon an evidence^ which itself tells us is not certain; 
and this is a contradiction. We beheve our senses upon this 
foundation^ because we reckon there is an intrinsic certainty 
in their evidence ; we do not believe them as we behevj^ 
another man, upon a moral presumption of his truth and sin- 
cerity; but we beheve them^ because such is the nature of the 
union of our souls and bodies, which is the Work of God/ that 
upon the full impressions that are made upon the senses, thi^ 
soul does necessarily produce, or rather feel those though]l|^ 
and sensations arise with a full e\ddence, that correspond tq 
the motions of sensible objects, upon the organs of sense. 
The soul has a sagacity to examine these sensations, to correct 
one sense by another ; but when she has used all the means 
she can, and the evidence is still clear, she is persuaded, anii 
cannot help being so ; she naturally takes all this to be truej 
because of the necessary connection that she feels between 
such sensations, and her assent to them. Now, if she should 
find that she coutd be mistaken in this, even though she 
should know this, by a divine revelation, all the intrinsic 
certainty of the evidence of sense, and that connection be- 
tween those sensatioiis and her assent to them, should be 
hereby dissolved. ^^^j^^^^ ' Wi 

To all this another cmjecfion may be made from the myste- 
ries of the Christian rehgion : which contradict our reason, 
and yet we are bound to beheve them; although reason is a 
faculty much superior to sense. But all this is a mistake ; 
we cannot be bound to believe any thing that contradicts our 
reason ; for the evidence of reason as well as that of sense is 
the voice of God to us. But as great difference is to be made 
between a feeble e\idence that sense gives us of an object that 
is at a distance from us, or that appears to us through a false 
medium; such as a concave or a convex glass; and the full 
evidence of an object that is before us, and that is clearly 
apprehended by us : so there is a great difference to be made 
between our reasonings upon difficulties that we can neither 



4^2 



XXVili. ciples. The one may be false^ and the other must be true: 
we ar6 stire that a thing cannot be one and three in the same 
Respect ; our reason assures us of this^ and we do and mustr 
belifeve it ; but we Imow that in different respects the same 
thing may be one and three. And since we cannot icnow all 
tte possibiHti^s of those different respects^, we must beUeve 
upon the authority of God reveaUng it, that the same thjng 
is both ow€ and three; though if a revelation should ajSirrog 
that the same thing were om and three in the same respect, we 
should not, and indeed could not, believe it. 

This argument deserves to be fully opened; for we are surftj 
either it is true, or we cannot be sure that any thing elser 
whatsoever is true. In confirmation of this we ought also to 
consider the nature and ends of miracles^ They put nature 
out of its channel, and reverse its £xed laws and motions; 
and the end of Go d^s giving men a power to work them, i^j 
that by them the world may be convinced, that such persons^ 
are cammissionated by him, to deliver his pleasure to them in 
some particulars. And as it could jiot become the infinite:, 
wisdom of the great Greatdr, to change the order of natucij 
(which is his ^wn workmanship) upon slight grounds ; so ibssd 
cannot suppose that he should work a chain of extraordinary? 
miracles to no ptirpose. It is not to give credit to a revela- 
tion that he is making ; for the senses do not perceive it ; on 
the contrary, they do reject and contradict it : and ihe revela- 
tion, instead of getting credit from it, is loaded by it, asi 
introducing that which destroys all credit and certainty. 

In other miracles our senses are appealed to;; but hem 
they must be appealed from; nor is there any spiritual ejudb 
served in workiiag this miracle : for it is acknowledged, thati 
the eflfects of this sacrament are given upon our due coming! 
jU .in . to it, independent upon tbe corporal presence : so that the 
■ grace of the sacrament does not always accompany it, since 
unworthy receivers, though, according to the Romish docis 
trine, they receive the true body of Christ, yet they do noiB 
receive grace with it : and the grace that is given in it to the 
worthy receivers, stays with them after that, by the destruc-ii 
tion of the species of the bread and wine, the body of Chrisfe 
is withdrawn. So that it is acknowledged, that the spiritual 
effect of the sacrament does not depend upon the corporal 
presence. hjhi am/ lifsafi 

Here then it is supposed, that God is every day' toi^ih^ 
a great many miracles, in a vast number of different places^ 
and that of so extraordinary a nature, that it must be con- 
fessed, they are far beyond all the other wonders, even of 
omnipotence; and yet all this is to no end, that we can ap- 
prehend ; neither to any sensible and visible end, nor to any 
internal and spiritual one. This must needs seem an amaz- 
ing thing, that God should work such a miracle on our 



THE) mmmcmmcms. 



423 



beM/'and yet should fte^ufti#^^oWi|h^ AH j. 

which he sfhould work it. hns sd y^^rn ono m\T .^ofn 

To conclude this whole argument^ we; Imve one great ad?; 
vantage in this matter, that our doctrine concerning th^^ 
sacrament, of a mystical presence of Christ in the symbols,? 
and of the effects of it on the worthy and unworthy reff 
ceiyers, is all acknowledged by the church of Rome; but; 
they have added to this the wonder of the corporal presence :, 
so that we need bring no proofs to them at least, for thatf 
which we: teach concerning it ; since it is all confessed by ^ 
them. But as to that which they have added, it is not nef^, 
cessary for us to give proofs against it ; it is enough for us, if 
we shew tliat all the proofs that they bring for it are weak,, 
and xincoilcluding. They must be very demonstrative, if it 
expected, that, upon the authority and evidence of them^, w^5 
j^oxdd be bound to beheve a thing which they themselve^ij 
confess to be contrary both to our sense and reason. Wer 
cannot by the laws of reasoning be bound to give argument^ 
against it; it is enough if we can shew that neither the words^ 
of the institution, nor the discourse in the sixth of St. Jph%; 
do necessarily infer it; and if we shew that those passages? 
can well bear another sense, which is agreeable both to th^ 
words themselves, and to the style of the scriptures, and mor% 
particularly to the phraseology to which the Jews were ac^, 
customed, upon the occasion an which this was instituted 5) 
an^ if the words can weU bear the sense that we give them;^i 
tiien the other ^idvantages that are in it, of its being simple^ 
and natural, of its being suitable to the design of a sacra^ 
ment, and of its having no hard consequences of any rsort 
depending upon it ; then, I say, by all the rules of expounds 
rng scripture, we do justly infer, that our sense of those words 
ought to be preferred. 

This is according to a rule that St. Augustin gives to judge Lib. iii. de 
what expressions in scripture are figurative, and what not; ' If Doct. 
anyplace seems to command a crime or horrid action, it is 
figurative: and for an instance of this he cites those words, 

Except ye eat the flesh and drink the blood of the Son of 
man, you have no life in you:" which seems to command ^ 
crime and a horrid action ; and therefore it is a figure com^ 
manding us to communicate in the passion of our Lord, and 
to lay up in our memory with dehght and profit, that his 
flesh was crucified and wounded for us.' As this was given 
for a rule by the great doctor pf 3 the Latin churchy so the 
same maxim had been delivered almost two ages before him, 
by the great doctor of the Greek church, Origen, who j says, Hom.7. in 
f ihat the understanding our Saviour's words of eating his Levit. 
flesh, and drinking his blood, according to the iletter, is a 
letter that kills.' These passages I cite by an anticipation^ 
before I enter upon the inquiry into the sense, oi^jjthe ancient 
church, concerning this matter; because they, belong to the 



A ^ ^\ words of tiie institution^ at least to th,e discourse in ^t> J,9^q^-j 
^SY^^^ - now if the sense that we give to these words is made good^^ 
we need be at no more pains to prove that they are capable 
of no other sense ; since this must prove that to be the only 
true sense of them. ^^^^ 

, So that for all the arguments that iiave been brought by us 
against this doctrine^ arising out of the iruitfulness of thq^ 
matter, we were not bound to use them for, our doctrine 
being confessed by them, it wants no proof; and we cannQ^^^ 
be bound to prove a negative. Therefore though the copious- 
ness of this matter has afforded us many arguments for the 
negative, yet that was not necessary : for as a negative always, 
proves itself; so that holds more especially liere, where that 
which is denied is accompanied with so many and so strang^j 
absurdities, as do follow from this doctrine.. 

^ The last topic in this matter is the sense that the ancient^^ 
c}iurch had of iti for, as we certainly have both the scriptures J 
and the evidence of our senses and reason of our side, so . 
that will be much fortihed, if it appears that no such doctrine 
was received in the first and best ages ; and that it came in 
not all at once, but by degrees. I shall first urge this matter 
by some general presumptiojis ; and then I shall go to plain 
proofs. But though the presumptions shall be put only as 
presumptions; yet if they appear to be violent, so that a man 
cannot hold giving his assent to the conclusion that follows 
from them, then though they are put in the form of presump- 
tive arg^^^^^s, yet that will not hinder them from being 
considered as cbhcluding ones. 'io 

By the stating this doctrine it has appeared how many 
difficulties there are involved in it : these are difiiculties that 
are obvious and soon seen: they are not found out by deep 
inquiry and much speculation: they are soon felt, and are 
very hardly avoided: and ever since the time that this doc-^ 
trine has been received by the Roman church, these haviil 
been much insisted on ; explanations have been offered to 
them all ; and the whole principles of natural philosophy have 
been cast into a new mould, that they might ply to this doc- 
trine: at least those, who have studied their philosophy in 
that system, have had such notions put in them, while their 
minds were yet tender and capable of any impressions, that 
they have been thereby prepared to this doctrine before thej^ 
came to it, by a train of philosophical terms and distinctions^^ 
so that they were not much alarmed at it, when it came tq' 

be set before them. ^o'V^ . . ^^QT/aaai 98odi 

They are accustomed to tmnk'that ubication, or me beiiig^ 
in a place, is but an accident to a substance : so that the 
same body^s being in more places, is only its having a fewj 
more of those accidents produced in it by God : they are^ 
accustomed to think that accidents are beings different froni 
matter : like a sort of clothing to it, which do indeed require 



they are beheved to have a being of their owri^ God may ^^X^^i i 
make them subsist: as the skin of a man may stand out in 
its proper shape and coloui"/ though there were nothing but 
air or vacuity within it. 

'^*rhey are accustomed to think^ that as an accident may Be 
mthout its proper substance^ so substance may be without its 
proper accidents ; and they do reckon extension and impene- 
trability^ that is, a body's so filhng a space, that no other 
body can be in the same space with it, among its accidents^ 
sd ' that a body composed of organs and of large dimension^/^ 
may be not only all crowded within one wafer, but an entire 
distinct body may be in every separable part of this wafer; at 
least in every piece that carries in it the appearance of bread. 

These, besides many other lesser subtilties, are the evident 
results of this doctrine : and it was a natural effect of it§ 
being received, that their philosophy should be so transformed" 
as to agree to it, and to prepare men for it. 

'Now to apply this to the matter we are upon, we find none 
of these subtflties among the ancients. They seem to appre- 
hend none of those difficulties, nor do they take any pains to 
solve or clear them. They had a philosophical genius, and 
shewed it in all other things : they disputed very nicely con- 
cerning the attributes of God, concerning his essence, and 
the Persons of the Trinity : they saw the difficulties concern- 
ing the incarnation of the Eternal Word, and Christ's being 
both God and man : they treat of original sin, of the power 
of grace, and of the decrees of God. - 

They explained the resurrection of our bodies, and the, 
different states of the blessed and the damned. 

They saw the difficulties in all these heads, and were very 
copious m their explanations of them: and they may be 
rather thought by some too full, than too sparing, in the can- 
vassing of difficulties ; but all those were mere speculative 
matters, in which the difficulty was not so soon seen as otp; 
this subject: yet they found these out, and pursued theiBL"^ 
with that subtdty that shewed they were not at all displeased, 
when occasions were offered them to shew their skill in an- 
swering difficulties : which, to name no raore, appears very 
evidently to be St. Augustin's character. Yet neither he nor 
any of the other fathers seem to have been sensible of the 
difficulties in this matter. 

They neither state them nor answer thein; nor do they use? 
those reserves when they speak of philosophical matters, that 
men must have used who were possessed of this doctrine : for ; 
a man cannot hold it without bringing himself to think an|P 
speak otherwise upon all natural things than the rest of mani** 
kind do. : ;^ 

^VTheJr i^re so far from this, that, on the contrary, they deliver 



XXVIII. sions of things. vjsi jgaivM iud ,noi7 - ; 

'They thought that aU creaftiir^s #efe limit to one place : 
and from thence they argued against the heathens^ who be- 
Heved that their deities were in every one x)f those statues 
"wiiich they consecrated to them. 

From this head they proved the divinity of the Holy Ghost? 
because he wrought in many different places at oriceir whiy? 
he could not do if he were only a creature. ^raaiiqed lo 

They affirm, that Christ Canine no more on earOi/Mtice 
h now in heaven, and that he can l)e but in one place. 

They say, that which hath no bounds nor figure, and tM.^ 
can neither be touched nor seeny cannot be a body: that bo(5^ 
are extended in some place, and cannot exist after the mariiier 
of spirits. ' 

They argue against the eternity of matter, from this, thri 
nothing could be produced, that had a being before it wdts? 
produced ; and on all occasions they appeal to the testimony 
of OTir senses as infanible. 

They «ay, that to believe otherwise tended to reverse th^ 
whole state of life, and order of nature, and to reproach th^ 
providence of Ood ; since it must be said, that he has gi'v^f^ 
the knowledge of all his works to liars and deceivers, if '0tif 
senses may be false 1: that we must doubt of our 'fi^ 
testimony of hearing, seeing, and feeling, could deceive ^ 

And in their contests with the Mareionites and others^ coflS 
cerningthe truth of Ghrist^^ body, they appeal always to thl^ 
testimony of the senses as infallible ; and even treating of th^ 
sacrament, they say, without limitation or exception, that Jif 
^s bread, as their eyes witnessed, and true wine that Chri^fi 
did consecrate to be the memorial of his body and blood f an^ 
they tell us in this very particular, that we ought not to douhl 
of the testimony of our senses. 

Another presumptive proof, that the ancients knew nothing 
of this doctrine, is, that the heathens and the Jews, who' 
charged them, and their doctrine, with every thing that they' 
could invent to make both it and them odious and ridiculotisj 
could never have passed over this, in which both sense and 
reason seemed to be so evidently on their side. 

They reproach the Christians for believing a God that wi^ 
born, a God of flesh that was crucified and buried : they 
laughed at their belief of a judgment to come, of endless 
flames, of a heavenly paradise, and of the resurrection of the 
body. Those who writ the first apologies for the Christiaft 
reHgion, Justin Martyr, Tertulhan, Origen, Arnobius, ari^ 
Minutius Felix, have given us a large account of the bla:s- 
phemies both of Jews atid Gentiles, against the doctrines of 
Christianity. ^ oosm : - 

Cyril of Alexandria has given us Julianas objections in his 



own words J wha having been, not only initiate 4^^' 
Christian rehgion, but having read the scriptures in the XXVU^ 
churches, and being a philosophical and inquisitive man, must 
have been well instructed concerning the doctrine and th^ 
sapraments of this religion: and his relation to the emperor 
Constantine must have made the Christians concerned to take 
more thaui ordinary pains on him. When he made apostacy 
frpm the faith, he reproached the Christians with the doctrine 
of baptism, and laughed at them for thinking that there was 
an ablution and sanctification in it, conceiving it a thing 
impossible that water should wash or cleanse a soul: jei^ 
neither he nor Porphyry, nor Celsus before them, did charge 
this religion with the absurdities of transubstantiation. ...^ 

It is reasonable to beheve, that if the Christians of that 
time had any such doctrine among them, it must have beeai^ 
known. Every Cliristian must have known in what sense 
those wards, ^ This is my body,^ and '^This is my blood,^ wei;^ 
understood among them. AH the apostates from Christianity 
must have known it, and must have published it, to excuse qg 
hide the shame of their apostacy since apostates are apt to 
spread hes of them whom they forsake,, but not to conce:^ 
^uch truths as are to their prejudice. Juhan must ham 
tnown it; and if he had known it, his judgment was too true^ 
and his malice to the Christian religion too quick, to overlo^ 
or neglect the advantages which this part of their do ctriii^ 
gave him. Nor can this be carried off by saying, that the 
eating of human flesh oxidi the Thyestean 5W0?er^, which werg 
objected to the Christians, relate to this : when the^ fathe^^ 
answer that, they tell the heathens that it was a downrigK| 
calumny and lie: and do not offer any explanations or d)^^ 
tinctions taken from their doctrine of tlie sacrament, to cle^^ 
them from the mistake and malice of this calumny. The tru|h 
is, the execrable practices of the Gnostics, who were called 
Christians, gave the rise to those as well as to many other 
calumnies : but they were not at all founded on the doctrin^^ 
of the eucharist, which is never once mentioned as the occa^ 
sion of this accusation. ''.^^ 

Another presumption, from which we conclude that the ajt- 
cients knew nothing of this doctrine, is, that we find heresiej^ 
and disputes arising concerning all the other points of rehgion : 
there were very few of the doctrines of the Christian religion, 
and not any of the mysteries of the faith, that did not faU 
under great objections : but there was not any one heresy 
raised upon this head : men were never so meek and tame as 
easily to believe things, when there appeared strong evidence, 
or at least great presumptions, against them. In these last 
eight or nine centuries, since this doctrine was received, there 
has been a perpetual opposition made to it, even in dark and 
unlearned ages ; in which implicit faith and bUnd obedience 
have carried a great sway. And though the secular arm has 



A K r. 5^en employed with great and unrelenting seventies to ej^| 
' tirpate all that have opposed it ; yet all the while many have 
stood out against it^ and have suffered much and long fo^ 
their rejecting it. Now it is not to be imagined that suq|^ 
kn opposition should have been made to this doctrine^ ^^^i^S 
the nine hundred years last past^, and that for the former eigbf 
hundred years there should have been no disputes at all con^ 
cerning it : and that while all other things were so mupij 
questioned^ that several fathers writ^ and councils were calle^ 
to settle the belief of them^ yet that for about eight hundred 
years, this was the single point that went down so easily, th ' 
no treatise was all that while writ to prove it, nor council He 
to establish it. 

Certainly the reason of this will appear to be much rather^^ 
that since there have been contests upon this point these lasf;^ 
nine ages, and that there were none the first eight, thj.g 
doctrine was not known during those first ages ; and that tHa 
great silence about it for so long a time, is a very strong 
presumj)tion, that in all that time this doctrine was nq\ 
thought of. 

The last of those considerations that I shall offer, whict^ 
are. of the nature of presumptive proofs, is, that there are , 
great many rites and other practices, that have arisen out ( 
this doctrine as its natural consequences, which were n 
thought of for a great many ages ; but that have gone on byj 
a perpetual progress, and have increased very fruitfully^ ever 
since this doctrine was received. Such are the elevation, adoj^ 
ration, and processions, together with the doctrine of concp^^ 
mitance, and a vast number of rites and rubrics ; the first' 
occasions and beginnings of Avhich are well known. These 
did all arise from this doctrine, it being natural, especially 
the ages of ignorance and superstition, for men upon the sup-' 
position of Christ's being corporally present, to run out into 
all possible inventions of pomp and magnificence about this 
sacrament; and it is very reasonable to think, since these^ 
things are of so late and so certain a date, that the doctrinj^^ 
upon which they are founded is not much ancienter. '^.^ 

The great simphcity of the primitive forms, not only as^ 
they are reported by Justin Martyr and Tertullian in the ages 
of the poverty and persecutions of the church, but as they are 
represented to us in the fourth and fifth centuries by CyriV^ 
of Jerusalem, the Constitutions, and the pretended Areox^ 
pagite, have nothing of that air that appears in the latter agejs^j^ 
The sacrament was then given in both kinds ; it was put iii j 
the hands of the faithful ; they reserved some portions of it : 
it was given to children for many ages: the laity and even 
boys were employed to carry it to dying penitents ; what 
§ .i3ofoq/j.ejnj^j|^g(j Qf burnt in some places, and consumed by^ 

the clergy, and by children in other places, the making cata- . 
plasms of it, the mixing the wine with ink, to sign the 



condemnation of heretips_, ar^ very clear. presumptions that ART. 
this doctrine was not then linown. XXVlll. 
^ But aboA^e all, their not adoring the sacrament, which is not ~ 
^one to this day in the Greek church, and of which there is 
iio mention made by all those who writ of the offices of the 
churcli in the eighth and ninth centuries so copiously ; this, 
I say, of their not adoring it, is perhaps more than a pre^r 
sumption, that this doctrine was not then thought on. BuJ 
since it Avas established, all the old forms and rituals hay^ 
been altered, and the adoring the sacrament is now becom^ 
the mam act of devotion and of religious worship, amon^ 
them. One ancient form is indeed still continued, which is 
of the strongest kind of presumptions that this doctrine came 
in much later than some other superstitions which we con- 
demn in that church. In the masses that are appointed 
on saints-days, there are some collects in which it is said, that^ 
the sacrifice is offered up in honour to the saint ; and it is 
prayed, that it may become the more valuable and acceptable, 
the merits and intercessions of the saint. Now when a 
practice will well agree with one opinion, but not at all with 
another, we have all possible reason to presume at least, that 
at first it came in under that opinion, with which it will agree, 
and not under another which cannot consist with it. Our 
opinion is, that the sacrament is a federal act of our Chris- 
tianity, in which we off'er up our highest devotions to God 
through Christ, and receive the largest returns from him : it 
is indeed a superstitious conceit to celebrate this to the 
honour of a saint ; but howsoever upon the supposition of 
saints hearing our prayers, and interceding for us, there is 
still good sense in this : but if it is beheved that Christ is 
corporally present, and that he is offered up in it, it is against 
all sense, and it approaches to blasphemy, to do this to the 
honour of a saint, and much more to desire that this, which is 
of infinite value, and is the foundation of all God^s blessings to; 
us, should receive any addition or increase in its value ojr^ 
acceptation from the merits or intercession of saints. So this^I 
though a late practice, yet does fully evince, that the doc- 
trine of the corporal presence was not yet thought on, when 
it was first brought into the office. ' ^^41 

So far I have gone upon the presumptions that may *pfi," 
offered to prove that this doctrine was not known to the an- 
cients. They are not only just and lawful presumptions, but 
they are so strong and violent, that when they are well 
considered, they force an assent to that which we infer from 
them. I go next to the more plain and direct proofs that we 
find of the opinion of the ancients in this matter. 

They call the elements bread and wine after the conse- 
cration. Justin Martyr calls them bread and wine, and a Apolog. 2 
nourishment which nourished : he indeed says it is not common 
bread and wine ; which shews that he thought it was still so 



4m ^ AN EXPOSITION @»T 

iW^: Mto§^til^ ; and he illustrates the sanctTScaflfei'^%^%1^ 

ments by the incarnation of Christ, in which the humaH 
bi;qf. nature did not lose or change its substance by its union witH 
jn9|b| the divine : so the bread and the wine do not, according ly 
°^!om8iJ^^^^ explanation, lose their proper substance, when-%lS^§^ 

become the flesh and blood of Christ. b^sid 
Hffir'c 34 I^'^^^^s calls it tliat bread over which thanks are given, ^^SS. 
' it is no more commm bread, but the euchanst consisting 

of two things, a?i earthly and a heavenly. 
,qa: i Tertulhan ai"guing against the Marcionites, who held two 
=oa |. gods, and that the Creator of this earth Avas the bad god; 

that Christ was contrary to him ; urges against them this^ 
Db. i.adv. that Christ made use of the creatures : and says, he did not 
sech9.^ r^Vc^ bread by which he represents his own body ; and in an- 
Lib.iii. other place he says, Christ calls bread his body, that fr6^ 
adv. Mar. thence vou may understand that he gave the iifmre of his boM 

torn bread. ' ^* 

iS.viii. Origen says. We eat of the loaves that are set before 
coxitis Cel- i(;/iich by prayer are become a certain holy body, that sanctijM 

those who uise them ivith a souftd purpose. 
Ep. 69. St. Cyprian says, Christ calls the bread that was compounded 

of many grmns, M^^ that h pressed ml of 

many grapes, his blood, to shew the union of Ms people. Atid 
Ep. 63. in another placei^ writing against those who used only water| 

but no wine, m the eueharist, he says, We mnnoi se^ theblom 

by which are redeemed, when wine is not in the chalice ; M 

which the blood of Christ is shewed. rf* 
In Ancho- Epipbanius being to prove that man may be said to be 
reto. made after the image of God, though he is not hke him, urg^^ 

this. Thai the breud is not like Christ ^ neither in his imnsil^i 

Deity, nor in his incarnate likmess, for it is round and vAth^ 

out feeling as to its virtue. 
In orat. de Gregory Nys sen says. The bread in the beginning is commovil 
chnstT but after the mystery has consecrated it, it is said to be, and 

the body of Christ : to this he compares the sanctification of 

the mystical oil, of the water in baptism, and the stones oi Wt 

^Itar, or church, dedieated to God. 
De^Bene- St. Ambrose calls it still bread: and says, this bread is ma^ 
Patriarch, the food 6f the saints. ^ 
9. St. Chrysostom on these words, the bread that we breaks 

Horn. 24. says. What is the bread? The body of Christ : What are 
Co^P-^^ they made to be who take it? The body of Christ. Which 

shews that he considered the bread as being so the ])ody of 
i)K jaiqj! Christ, as the worthy receivers became his body; which is' 

done, not by a change of substance, but by a sanctification of 

their natures. 

Matt"c 26 says, Christ took bread, that as Melchisedec haM 

in the figure offered bread and wine, he might also represent tM 
truth (that is in opposition to the figure) of his body and blooi^ 
St. Augustin does very largely compare the sacraments 



THE XXXIX ARTICLES. 



m 



b^ng called the body and blooxi ; o£ Chris^;, wjth those ; other A? R/i^ 
pl^^^jes in which the church is called his body, and all Chrisr- xx vni^ 
tians are liis members: which shews that he thought the one apudf 
WRs to be understood mystically as well as the other. He calls Fulgent, 
the eucharist, frequently our daily bread, and the sacrament of ^^P" 
bread and wine. All these call the eucharist b7^€ad and wine 
in express words; but when they call it Chrisfs body and .n AiJi 
blood 5 they call it so after a sort, or that it is mid to be, ^-'^^^ 
or with some other molhfjdng expression. 

St. Augustin says this plainly. After some sort the sacra- Ang. Ep. 
ment of the body of Christ is his body, and the sacrament of 23. ad Bo- 
?iis bhod is the blood of Christ ; he carried himself in his own^^^^^ ^ 
hands in some sort, when he said. This is my body. inPsai.33^ 
, St, Chrysostom says, The bread is thought worthy to be Chrys.'E'^. 
^lled the body of our Lord : and in another place, reckoning paesar^-^ 
i|P.^|h.eimproper senses of the word^esA, he says, the scrip- ^oJ^^n. '~ 
tures used to call the mysteries (that is, the sacrament) by the in Ep.aa: 
neme of Jlesh, <ind sometimes the whole church is said to be^^^- <^'^-t, 
ih^^dy of Christ. > 

So TertuUian ssiys, Christ culls the bread his body, and Tennl. Mf 
fumes the brmd by his body. m^^^'^^ 

The fathers do not only call the consecrated elements go!*^^'^*^ ' 
bV^d amd wdne; they do also affirm, that they retain theife 
pffOp€a' nature and substance, and are the same thing as tc| Md.qS. 
their nature that they were before. And the occasion upojf 
Ti^rhich the passages, that I go next to mention, are used by. 
them, does prove this matter beyond contradiction. - 

Apollinaris^ did broach that heresy which was afterwards - i 
put in full form by Eutyches ; and that had so great a party 
to support it, that as they had one general council (a pre^? 
tended one at least) to favour them, so they were condemned 
by another. Their error was, that the human nature of Chrisfc, 
was; swallowed up by the divine, if not while he was here on eb JsTo nl 
earth, yet at least after his ascension to heaven. This errof ^^hqija 
was confuted by several \vriters who lived very wide one froni ''^^^ 
another, and at a distance of above a hundred years one frotfi^ 
another. St. Chrysostom at Constantinople, Theodoret int 
Asia, Ephrem patriarch of Antioch, and Gelasius bishop of =90939(1 
Rome. All those wite to prove that the human nature di^ HyiiiiiiBT 
still remain in Christ, not changed^ nor swallowed up, but ° ^ 
only sanctified by the divine nature that was united to it* .i^s .moil 
They do all fall into one argument, which very probably thosa ^^''^'^q^ 
who came after St. Chrysostom took from him : so tha| 
though both Theodoret and Gelasius's words are much fullei^^^Epist. ad 
yet because the argument is the same with that which Sti^^^^"""'- 
Chrysostom had urged against ApoUinaris, I shall first set 
down his words. He brings an illustration from the doctrine ' 
of the sacrament, to shew that the human nature was not ders ' ' 
stroyed, by ,its ui^ion^withL ftie diviw^ and l^a^ upon tMt t^es^ 
^iI^^mm(JG^ edi siijqaioo ylagiBl yi^y 89ob nh?.u^uA ,1B 



432 AN l^lf^fO^Y^ip^ ^Jf 

ART. words, As befo7'e the br^ead is sanctified^ we call it bread ; pTjU 
^ r^ ,^ ^^' the divine grace has sanctified it by the means of f,^^ 

- priest, it is freed from the name of bread, and is thought . wot- 

thy of the name of the JLgird'^s body, though the nature of fmead 
remain in it :• and yet it is not said there are two bodies, pMf 
one body of the Son: so the divine nature being joined to t^^i^ 
body, both these make one Son and one Person. 
In Phot. Eplirem of Antioch says. The body of Christ received by tq^ 
Bibl.Cod. faithful does not depart from its sensible substance: so baptisi^ 
^'''^* says he, does not lose its own sensible substance, and does not 

lose that ivhich it was before. 
Dial. 1. Theodoret says, Christ does honour the symbols with i^^ 
^•i. cont. name of his body and blood ; not changing the nature, h^f^ 
" * adding grace to nature. In another place pursuing the sa^a^ 
argument, he says. The mystical symbols after the sanctificg^'^^ 
Hon do not depart from -their onm nature : for they continue; m 
their former substance, figure, and form, and are visible 
palpable as they ivere before ; hut they are understood to b^^ 
that which theif are made. ' 
Lib. de Pope Gelasius says. The sacraments of the hody and blocfQ^ 
nar'christ ^ C'^^^-^^ ^ divinc thing ; for lohich reason we beco^ne om. 
' them partakers of the divine nature : and yet the substance 
bread and ivine does not cease to exist : _ and the image and: 
likeness of the body and blood ofVhrist are celebrated vnlwUf^ 
mysteries. Upon all these places being compared with tli^^ 
design with which they were written, which was to prove that 
Christ^s human nature did still subsist, unchanged, and not 
swallowed up by its union with the divinity, some reflections 
are very obvious : first, if the corporah presence of Christ in 
the sacrament had been then received in the church, the na- 
tural and uhavoidable argument in this matter, which must 
put an end to it, with all that believed such corporal presence, 
was this: Christ has certainly a natural body still, because 
the bread and the wine are turned to it ; and they cannot be; 
turned to that which is not. In their writings they argued 
against the possibility of a substantial change of a humem^ 
naMf^e =lhto the divine ; but that could not have been urge^.^ 
by men who believed a substantial mutation to be made f^n 
the sacrament ; for then the Eutychians might have retort^^j 
the argument with great advantage uj)on them. _ ^^^^tT 
The Eut}^cliians did make use of some expressions, fj^,^ 
were Used by some in the church, which seemed to iinpor;^^ 
that they did argue from the sacrament, as Theodoret repre^^^^ 
settts1^6ir objections. But to that he answers as we havq;{ 
seen, denying that any such substantial change was ^^m^ 
The design of those fathers was to prove, that things migH|*\ 
be united, together, and continue so united, without a change 
of their substances, and that this Was true in the two natures 
in the person of Christ: and to make this more sensible, tliey^^f 



bring m the matter of me sacrament, as a tnirtg known and 
confessed : for in their arguing upon it they do suppose it as 

thing out of dispute. ^ 

Now^ according to the Roman doctrine, this had been 
¥ery odd sort of an argument, to prove that Christ^s human 
Yiature was not swallowed up of the divine; because the 
mysteries or elements in the sacrament are changed into the 
Substance of Chrisfs body, only they retain ilie outward ap- . j jjia 
fearances of bread and tame. '■^'^^ 

To this an Eutychiaii might readily have answered, that 
then the human nature might be believed to be destroyed: i^^g- 
and though Ciu'ist had appeared in that likeness, he retained. i3 
6nly the accidents of human nature: but that the human ^^^-'V^^ 
nature itself was destroyed^ as the bread and the wine wera 
destroyed in the eucharist. 

This had been a very absurd way of arguing in the fathers_j> 
and had indeed delivered up the cause to the Eutychians :. 
whereas those fathers make it an argument against them, to' 
prove, that notwithstanding an union of two beings, and such j 
an union as did communicate a sanctification from the one to^ eudBub 
the other, yet the two matures might remain still distinf , '^^'"^^^'^^^^ 
guished ; and that it was so in the eucharist; therefore it^ 
might be so in the person of Christ. This seems to be sqt 
evident an indication of the doctrine of the whole church ml 
the fourth and fifth centuries, when so many of the most emirf ^ 
nent writers of those ages do urge it so home as an argument) 
in so great a point, that we can scarce think it possible for^ 
any man to consider it fully without being determined by it,,. 
And so far we have considered the authorities from therj 
fathers, to shew that they believed that the substance of| 
bread and wine did still remain in the sacrament. .| 

Another head of proof is, that they affirm, that our bodies^ 
are nourished by the sacrament; which shews very plainly, 
that they had no notion of a change of substance made in it. 

Justin Martyr calls the eucharist, 77^^/ /bo^^ by ivhich our Apo\. I, 
flesh and blood, through its transmutation into them, are nou^,. 
rished, 

Irenseus makes this an argument for the resurrection of ourri 
bodies, that they are fed by the body and blood of Christ ; r > 
When the cup and the bread receives the word of God, it be- Lib. v. adv. 
comes the eucharist of the body and blood of Christ, by which P^^^^- 
the substance of our flesh is increased and subsists : and he^' 
adds, that the flesh is nourished by the body and blood of - 
Christ, mid is made his member, 

Tertullian says. The flesh is fed with the body and blood of Be Resur- 

Christ. T'ect. Carn, 

Origen explains this very largely on those words of Christ, ^' 
It is not that which enters within a man, that defiles the man ; in Matt. 
he says, if every thing that goes into the belly is cast into the In- 
draught, then that food which is sanctified by the word of God, 

2 F 



4U 



MRm mid44 fmyei')^ ()oemmko v^?ihe belly ^mitft ihgk wMckM 
Xmmi. i^'ial in it^ and goes from thence int(hdh^sdSf'm9i't¥oi?^^^ ^ 
, little after he adcls^ // is not the matter of the bfeadyhut Hh^ 
" h : looi'd that is ;pronoimced over ityiuliich ^jTojits him that eatsM\ 
• m^udk^i imp mis not unworthy of the iJ^ord* >d ti ; jaiiriO 
To?* can 6 '^^^ bishops of Spain^ in a council that sat at i-gHSbf^ 
■ sj^va£>tjaf$e^jiftij^y,^e^^^ M(j$^)^s^^te 

mii^yLsij^^pQm.t€dp ^dmdimj^jk£libm hfmd<m:iimmvm^ 
ftftdr 'th^'^ cbrajiMikjBi'tliKf aith^ it sHould be put in sQinja 
h^g, or if it: was needful teaat ftfe up^ that it might ?iot oppf^^ 
t^imMtly QfihAm that took it with am overcharging bii7'de7i, and 
t^^itz-^grUmat go into the digestion ; they fancying itlT;s,tf;ar 
laisetn^^asstoit^i nmde no digestion^ and produced i^ljei&e 
(mmamto^^^^lq:LiJ i^'^r, done sdi 

:bfo>i^;teimki^«s4ifcari5d(3£»^ Maurus and HgriboMt 

Wi§\^> Afetithe sacmmmt: %^ digested, that somerpaiife 
dfsit^sliirned to escrenient^ whiehr was also held by diverM 
loiters of thfiyiGreelc church, whom their adversaries called/ 
n^9a%^i-^y clF :i^[jT^mh, stercdM^^^ of:: tha 

^''^j'^^"j8^iiient^kLri2,th£f it was ^prekd through the: w^^ SMbstanoB^ 
' ol?;'tim eatafiupicaht^ for the :good of body and souLrioiBspUsv 
Cyril. Ca- ^j^-il of ilerusUlem, St. Chrysostom, and John Damascene/ 
5 ^hrys-** "^^^ ^^^^^ conceit ; but/ still tliey thought that it wa^ 
ost. Serrao (fenged into the substance of our bodies, and so nouristeedi 
de Poeni- tfeem without any excrement coming from any part of it, 
c harist Da- -'^^^ fathers do call the vco-ks^emted elements tire 1 figkre^ 
mas. lib. iv. signs. the symbols^ the f^pes, and mititypes, the 
de Ortho. ihoTutioTi, tlie representation^ the mysteries, and thfe sacrum 
ments, of the body and blood ; which does evidently demon- 
be .qist rate/ that they could not think that they were the veiy sub- 
Lib.i¥.fe\^v stance of hia body and blood. TertuUian, when he is proving 
se^ct'^To ' ^^^^ Christ had a true body, and was not a phantasm, argues 
thii&^ 'He malle -bread to be his body, saying ^ This is my body ; 
that \is, ytke figure of my body : from which he argues, that; 
sinoeflhis l)ody had that for its /^wre, it was a true body ; : for 
aari empty thing, such as a phantasm is, cannot have 2i figure: 
" ,dijlb''is from hence clear, that it was not then believed that 
jauBl.ro-Ghrist^s body was literally in the sacrament; for otherwise 
ni i°/nv^^^ ^^S^^^^^t Yv^ould have been much clearer and shorter ; 
sivoxjfi : Christ has a true body, because we beheve tliat the sacrament 
-is truly his than to go and prove: it so far about, as to 

ssy a phantasm has no figure: but<it^o^acrament is the 
figtire of Christ's body, therefore it is nb phantasm. 
Ennarat. St. Austin says, i/i? commended and gave to his disciples Mb 
in Psal. m.j^^^^^ ^^^^ blood. And when the Manicheans ob- 

jected to iiim, that btood is called in the Old Testament the 
life or ^oz:.?, .contrary to wliatag said in the New; he answers, 
that^ ^/oo«:/: was' not' the soul ot life, but only the sign of -it';- 



THE XKXJX AIITICLES. 



435 



dwd ^^t^the it^n s^m^titt^bs^beAirs the n^me of that?ofv^hi<^h it art 
fe feb^-si^i^^K'-So says he; 0h7^ist dM not doubt to say, This is my 
iMy^^'^hg^M loas giv'mxf ifie sign of his body- Now that had Lib. contT 
b^d^i^i -^ery l>ad argument, if the bread was truly the body of Adimant. 
Christ; it had proved that the sign-^ must be one witbithB ^' 
©hihg- signified. _ _ ^ ojirrj.r ,{T ''^^^j. 

The whole ancient hturgies, and all the Greek fathers, do so 
frequently use the words type, antitype, sign, and mystery, that 
ihis is not so much as denied; it is their constant style. Now 
it is apparent that a thing cannot be the type and symbol of 
itself. And though they had more frequent occasions tO' 
^peak of the eucharist, than either of baptism or the chrism ; 
yet as they called the water 2x1^ the oil, types snad mysteries, 
sat^they bestowed the same descriptions on the elements in 
the eucharist ; and as they have many strong expressions con- 
cerning the 4^flf/er and the oii, that cannot be hterally understood : 
so xipon the same grounds it will appear reasonable, to give 
tlie shme exposition to some high expressions that they fell 
ifteil concerning this Sacrament, Facundus has some very 
ferB discourses to this purpose : he is proving that Christ may Defen. 
be rcalled the adopted Son 0/ God, as well as he is truly Cone. 
Son ; and that because he was baptized. The sacrament of ^^^^^^'^^ 
adoption, that is baptism^ma.y be called bapti as the sacra- 
ment of his body and bloody which is in the consecrated 
brmd and eup, is called his body and blood: not that the 
ir&ad is properly his body, or the cup properly his blood; but 
because they contain in them the mystery of his body and blood, 
St. Austin says. That sacraments must have some resemblance 
of those tilings of which they are the sacraments : so the sacra- 
ment of the body of Christ is after some manner his body ; and 
the sacrament of his blood is after some manner his blood. And 
speaking of the eucharist as a sacrifice of praise, he says. The Ep.23.ad 
flesh and blood of this sacrifice was promised before the coming l^omfac. 
of Christ, by the sacrifices that were the types of it. In the 
passion the sacrifice was truly offered ; and after his ascension 
it is celebrated by the sacrament of the remembrance of if. 
And when he speaks of the murmuring of the Jews, upon our 
Saviour's speaking of giving his flesh to them, to eat it; he 
adds, They foolishly and carnally thought, that he was to cut Lib. xx. 
aff some parcels of his body, to be given to them : but he shews con. Faust. 
that there was a sacrament hid there. And he thus paraphrases . 

1 mi T 1 , r 1 7 7 Ennar. in 

that passage. The words that 1 have spoken to you, they are Psal.xcviii. 
spirit and life ; understand spiritually that which I have said ; 5. 
for it is not this body which you see, that you are to eat, or to 
drink this blood ivhich they shall shed, who crucify me. But 
I have recommended a sacrament to you, which being spiritually 
understood, shall quicken you : and though it be necessary that 
it be celebrated visibly, yet it must be understood invisibly. r 

Primasius compares the sacrament to a pledge, which a Comm. in 
dying man leaves to any one whom he loved. But that which 1 Ep. ad 

2 F 2 



X^yiii. the^ fathers is/that the author of the books of the sacramentj 
LikTv. de i^^i^h pass Under the name of St. Ambrose, though it is 
Sacrara. generally agreed that those books were writ some ages after 
5- his death, gives us the prayer of consecration, as it was useH 
his time: he calls it the heavenly ivdrds, and sets it dow^. 
^ne' offices of the church are a clearer esvidence .of the doctrine 

^ihat chiircb than all the discourses 'tftat can be made 
any doctor in it ; the one is the language of the whole 'bdjdy, 
„ whereas the other are only the private reasonings of particular 
"men : and^ of all the parts of the office, the prayer of • conseci*?- 
ftion is that which does most certainly set out to us the seh^| 
%f that church that used it. But that which makes tmS 
I'cmark the more important is, that the prayer, as set down 
by this pretended St. Ambrose, is very near the same w^^ 
i:hat: which is now in the canon of the mass ; only there is^.Oftfe 
S^ery important variation, which will best appear by ^e^ttiti^ 
^both down. ^^^^'"^ 
Ut supra. ■ of St. Ambrose is, Fac nobis hanc Mationem, ascrip- 

tam^ rationabilem, accepiabilem, quod est figura corporis et 
^sanguinis Domini nostri Jesu Ckristi, qui pridie quam pat e^i"- 
"iur,:^c. That in the canon of the mass is, Quam oblatioriifli 
'i^"Deus in omnibus quae samus benedictam, ascriptam, rafam, 
"^rationabilem, accept abilemque facer edigneris : uf nobis corpuim 
' mnguis fiat dilectissimi FUii tui Domini nostri Jesu Christi. '^^ 
; We do plainly see so great a resemblance of the latter ;ft 
'^the former of these two prayers, that we may well conclude, 
" that the one was begun in the other ^ but at the same time 
pbserve an essential difference. In the former this Sacrifice 
(ialled the figure of the body and blood of Christ. Whereas 
"in the latter it is prayed, that it may become to us the body and 
' blood of Christ. As long as the former was the prayer of 
consecration, it is not possible for us to imagine, that the 
doctrine of the corporal presence could be received ; for that 
- which was believed to be the true body and blood of Christ, 
could not be called, especially in such a piart of the office, the 
figure of his body and blood ; and therefdrd the change that 
Was made in this prayer was an evident pfb6f of a change in 
the doctrine ; and if we could tell in what age that was done, 
we might then upon greater certainty fix the time in which 
this change was made, or at least in which the inconsistency 
of that prayer with this doctrine was observed. ' r^^^^ 

I have now set down a great variety of proofs re3iiMd 
under different heads ; from which it appears evidently that 
the fathers did not believe this doctrine, but that they did 
affirm the contrary very expressly. This sacrament continued 
SO long considered as the figure or image of Christ's 
' ■body, that the seventh general council, which met at Constan- 
tinople in the year 754, and consisted of above three hundred, 
and thirty bishops, when it condemned the worship of images. 



^.ffirmed that this was the only th^^it we jnight lawfully A K.;r,^ 

have of Christ ; and that he lilad appointed us to offer th^s ^^yj'^;;' 

image of his body, to wit, the substance of the bread. That 

>yas indeed contradicted with much confidence by the secon^^'- 
Council of Nice^ in which, in opposition to what appears l|) " " - " 
tins day in all the Greek liturgies, and the Greek fathers/ they 
do positivelv deny that the sacrament was ever called ! t-J^ 

In con^usion,^i siafPnexf ;^lhew how this doctrine cre|i^ 
into the church ; for this seems plausible, that a doctrine .qf 
this nature could never have got into the church in any 
|f those of the age that admitted it had not known that it had. 
been the doctrine of the former age, and so upwards to tlxp 
^age of the apostles. It is not to be denied, but that very 
early both Justin Martyr and Ireneeus, thought, that there was 
5U|^^^ s^c|:ification of the elements,, that there was a divip^e 
wtue' in "them: and in those very passages which we havje 

urged from the arguings of the fathers against the Eutychians, . 

^though they do plainly prove that they believed that the sub- 
sjcgice of bread and loine did still remain; yet they do suppose 
„an union of the elements to the body of Christ, like that ^of 
me human nature's being, united to the divine. / Here a foui^- 
vdation was laid for all the superstructure that was afterwarcjs 
raised upon it. For though the liturgies and public bffiqes 
jcontinued long in the first simplicity, yet .the fathers, who did 
very, much study eloquence, xhieffy tlie_ Greek fatlxer.s, carvie4 
^Iiis matter veiy far in their jsermons and homihes. - Tlie)-vdi.d 
^pnly apprehend the profanatioji of the sacrament^ from ilie 
^■unworthiness of those who came to it ; and bemg much set 
vpn the begetting, a due reverence for so holy an action ,^ and 
-rseriousness in_the perfoi'mance of it,, they urged all tliQ t optics 
thsit sublime figures or warm expressions could, help tliem 
with: and. with this exalted eloquence of theirs, we must 
likewise . observe the atate that the world fell in in the fif^h 
century ; vast s warms out of the north overrun tlie .Romajn 
empire, aiid by a. long continued .succession of new invaders 
.all was sacked aad ruined, V In tke west, the Goths were fol- 
lowed by. the Vandals, the Alans, , the Gepides,, the Franl^s, 
',tlie Sweves, the Huns,, and the Lombards, some of these 
. nations ; and in the conclusion the Saracens and Turks in the 
east made havoc of all that was polite or learned ; by. which 
fAve lost the cbief writings of . the first and best times ; but in- 
, stead of these, many spurious ones were, afterwiirds: produced, 
J.and . they passed easily in dark and ignorant ages. All fell 
: under muck oppression and . misery^ and Europe was so over- 
run witli barbarity, and ignorance, ■ that it cannot be easily 
apprehended, but by suck as have been at the. pains to go 
tln*ough one of the ungratefullest pieces -of study that can be 
well imagined, and have read the productipns of those ^ges. 



438 



<^AN)BXPOS1T10N 0FI1 



ART. The understanding the scriptures^ or languages;^ orj histoityi 
^^^^ was not so much as thought on. Some affected homilies^r^ 
descantings on the rituals of the church, full of many iver^ 
odd speculations about them^ are among the best of the wrifo 
ings of those times. They were easily imposed on by s^t\f 
new forgery ; witness the reception and authority that was 
given to the Decretal Epistles of the popes of the first thriee 
centuries ; which for many ages maintained its credit, thougM 
it was plainly a forgery of the eighth century, and was couef 
trived with so little art, that there is not in them colour 
enough to excuse the ignorance of those that were decei'V^ed 
by it. As it is an easy thing to mislead ignorant multitudes^ 
so there is somewhat in incredible, opinions and stories, that 
is suited to such a state of mankind: and as men are apt tflfe 
fancy that they see sprights, especially in the night, so ihff 
more of darkness and uncbnceivableness that there is iln::,^ 
opinion, it is the more properly calculated for such times^; 
The ages that succeeded were not only times of ignorance, but 
they were also times of much corruption. The writers of t^e 
fourth and fifth centuries give us dismal representations of thi^ 
corruptions of their times ; and the scandalous unconstaney 
of the councils of those ages, is too evident a proof of what 
we find said 1)y the good men of those days: but things 
fell lower and lower in the succeeding ages. It is an amazing 
thing, that in the very office of consecrating bishops, examina^ 
tions are ordered concerning those crimes, the, very menti^^ 
of which give horror ; Be Coihi cum Musculo et cum QmtMu- 
pedibtis, ,imm 

The popes more particularly were such a succession offjji^ft^ 
that, as their own historians have described them, nothingf^ 
any history can be produced that is like them. The charactei?% 
they give them are so monstrous, that nothing under the a^f^ 
thority of unquestioned writers, and the evidence of the l^c^s 
themselves, could make them credible.* 

But that v/hich makes the introduction of this doctrine 
appear the more probable is, that we plainly see the whole 
body of the clergy was every where so influenced by th^ 
management of the popes, that they generally entered into 
combinations to subject the temporalty to the spiritualty : 
and therefore every opinion that tended to render the persons 
of the clergy sacred, and to raise their character high, was 
sure to receive the best entertainment, and the greatest 
encouragement possible. Nothing could carry this so far as 
an opinion that represented the priest as having a character 
by which, with a few words, he could make a god. Th^ 
opinion of transubstantiation was such an engine, that it being 
once set on foot, could not but meet with a favourable 
reception from those who were then seeking all possible 

* See note, page 253, ' ' , ' l' ^*^ '.- 



4m 



COlotd^i t»> gt^e n oredil to .tfeeirtv ^tuthoy i%, mi& lissi HadKranc© ( I'C JL H 
The numbers of tlie clergy were then so great^^ and'thebtcaiw 
^ivances were so well suitedjitf) the credulity and supeiTsititkHb 
©fiitiiosfe^^ times, that, by ^vdskmSfiand wonderful storiesj ecbhe 
fidently vouched, they could easily infuse any thing in to. w^^a^d 
and giddy multitudes.. Besides, that the genius of thosi®! 
times led them mucli; tq the love of pomp and shov/ ; they haij^ 
lost the true power and beauty.^ Religion, and iWere willingp 
b^ftmil^rd appearances^ to babiii[fcdoai;fd9gofdpEn^ri3BB%r8feeilf 
^l^at defects. - .'i J>eilj ^ t^j' j'.' J^ ilfm lysnii 

' But besides all those generainecxasiderativons^ .xikidi s%k)a® 
are acquainted with the history of thbse ages knot? dfii beloi^ 
to them in a much higher degree than is here seiJ forth ; th>er:e5 
are some specialties that relate to this doctrine in partiGMlat/ 
trhich will make the introduction of it. appear the more p^rao^l 
Mcable. This had never been eondemndd in miyi fafcnie^ ^gem 
ioY as none condemn errors by;-an:tipipati0ncar pro|)het!yi^iiiS|$) 
the promoters of it had this advantage, -thafc*n3Dijformal dejd^dff 
had been made against : them^ :It did also lin the: outwai# 
i^ound agree with the Vv'^ords of the institution,:and the phrased 
generally used, of the elements being changed into the bodp 
and blood of Christ t outward > sound and appearance was^ 
©iiough in ignorant ages to hide the phange tliait was mad67 
The step that is made ffi®^^m :.believing any tbing iiii^ene^^ 
with an indistinct and- confused apprehensisTiptbl ^dM^tr^iM 
Wa^c^f explaining it, is not hard to Jj@sbraugIife'ia)lkjat£»"iJ3 affoii 
'is'J^e people in geneiml believed tiia;t^brieti\^afsdmi'^hfloM®E'^'0 
ment, and that the elements were his body and blood, witBo^t^ 
tr(Mbling themselves to examine lii^iwhafi maMner ail this was 
done : so it was no great step in a dark age to put a partiQulafe' 
explanation of this upon them : and this change being brought 
in without any visible alterations made in the w^or ship, it mu# 
needs have passed with the world the more easily i for in a# 
times visible rites are more minded by the people than specu?^ 
lative points,' which they consider very little. No alterations 
were at first made in the worship ; the adoration of the host§ 
and the processions invented to honour it^ came afterwards, cl 
Honorius the Illd, v/ho first appoii>ted the adoration, doe§^ 
not pretend to found it on ancient practice : only he corns 
mands the priests to tell the people to do it : and he at first 
enjoined only an inclination of the head to the sacrament. 
But his successor, Gregory the IXth, did more resolutely tJreg. De- 
command it, and ordered a bell to be rung at the consecration '"" 

. . . . tit. 4 1 . c I). 

and elevation, to give notice of it, that so all those who lo. 
heard it might kneel and jx)in their hands, and so worship 
^fee host. dong 8J3W j 

The first controversy alboutMiie manner of the presence 
arose incidentally upon the controversy of images : the council 
at Constantinople decreed, that the sacrament was the image 
of Christ, in which the substance of bread and wine remained. 



44© ,?As«#psriMJic mr 

H Wk '^ftS© Qf^i(^^ili03v|}itip*sly^ soever theycfeU ,upon tlieaj foj 
<?»Hai^jJtbi^['^M^me?ife the image of Cfirist, yet do no whe^g 
" bkinfie;t&€m-for saying that /^e substance of bread and 
remained in it : for indeed, the opinion of Damascene^ and .,f|| 
most of the Greek church> 'Wa8^ that there was un assumpt}(}^ 
@/' tim brmdi and ^vine into an union imtli the body of Chiri^L 
^iMss ggomdlD'^Jf Constantinople brought in their decisix^ 
©cession^llyi tiiat being considered as the settled doctrine. ,<pi 
tferg church ; whereas those of Nice did visibly innovate ai^^ 
falsify the tradition : for they affirm, as Damascene had doixje^ 
fe^ta^o^heKQ^ :th# tb§xi-^ni@n<^%- w*ere called antitypes: of 
Chris fs body, only before they were consecrated^ but not aftjSg 
iti ivvhieh they say fathers liad done. This ia^ so 

^eteiously false, that no man can pretend now to justi^j^ 
fifeetn in it, since there are above twenty of the fathers th^J 
^xte^' before them, who in plain words call the elements af^^ 
^tos^cration, the figure and antitype of Chris fs body: here tbffl} 
wsss cthe tradition and practice of the chnrch falsified, whi,c}i|^ 
atfeSimall prejudice against those that support the doctring^^g 
Wfiilras against the credit of that council.: -.rlilo 
ki^^out thirty years after that council, Paschase Eadbejr^ij 
aMiot of Gorby. in France, did very plainly assert the corpffi-:^ 
presence in the eucharist : he is acknowledged both by 
feyrfiine and Sirmondus to be the first writer that didr ;(^ 
purpose advance and explain that doctrine : he himself v^luf^ 
M-^ pains in that matter ; and as he la^er):ts jthe slawni§s^(5j| 
g»e in believing it, so he pretends, that he had moved r:H?;B[j 
tsiissent to it. But he confesse&, ;that some blamed inpijfgj 
^ciribing a sense to the words of Christ that was not cc^j 
sonant to truth. There was but one book writ in that age t^^ 
second him; the name of the author was lost, till Mabillp^ 
discovered that it was writ by one Herigerus^ abbot of Cob^ 
Bfj^;;aH^the eminent men and the great writers of that time 
fejst^iplainly jagainst this doctrine, and affirmed, that the 
bread and wine remained in the sacrament, and did nourisji 
kur bodies as - other meats do. Those were Rabanus Maurus_, 
archbishop of Mentz ; Amalarius, archbishop^ of Trier^^j 
Heribald, bishop of Auxerre ; Bertram, or Ratramne ; .John 
^cot Erigena:; Walafridus Strabus ; Florus, and Christian 
Druthmar. Three of these set themselves on purpose to 
refute Paschase. 

f. Uabanus Maurus, in an epistle to abbot Egilon, wrate 
^^gainst Paschase for saying, that it was that body that was 
born of the Virgin, that was crucified and raised up again, 
Hvhich was daily offered up. And though that book is lost, 
'yet as he himself refers his reader to it in his Penitential, so 
we have an account given of it by the anonymous defender of 
Paschase. 

. Ratramne was commanded by Charles the Bald, then em- 
peror, to write upon that subject ; which he in the beginning 



5f'^h^-l56dl5J''^roMes'-fe ao.^tiot ■ tmstiiig to 'his-'owh' sensed' A'R T. 
But following the steps of the holy fathers. He tells us, that 
th^re Were different opinions about it : some believing that 
the 'bbdj of Christ was there Avithoiit a figure : others saying 
iliat it was there in a figure, ot mijstery : npon which he ap^ 
prehended that a great schism must fonow.> His book is 
vtty short, and very plain : he asserts our ttocildne as exv 
p'ressly as we ourselves can do : he deliverlsifct in the same 
wbf ds, and proves it by many of the sMnesairgaYnents and au-f 
fliorities, that we brins". a 

■ Raban and Ratramne were^ without dispute, reckoned 
among the first men of that agev^ aioisd ylno ^\$5jo- j 
'-'" John Scot was also c6mmandedoW'tlfe'^§iiffad;femperor to' 
i^Vite on the same subject : he w^as one of the most learned 
and the most ingenious men of the age ; and was in great 
Esteem both with the emperor/ and with our king A&gdi 
He was reckoned both a saint and a martyr. He did formerl^r 
refute Pasehase^s doctriiiey and assert ours." His book is in^*' 
died^lOst-'^'^ut a full account of it is given us by other writers 
of that time. And it is a great evidence^ tfhat his opinion in 
tliis' matted Was not then thought to be contrary to the general 
sense of the churcli in that age: for- he having writ agaiiisfi 
St. Austin's doctrine concerning predestination, thetfe>n©af*ie{ 
■^ry severe censure of him and of his w-ritings pubirsh'ed 
fettder' the name of the church of Lyons : in which: they do 
'once reflect on him for his opinions touching- the eu-* 
Hharist. It appears from this^, that their doctrine concerning 
the sacrament Was then generally received ; since both Ra- 
t?amne and he. though they differed extremely in the point of 
|^-re;destination, yet both agreed ffi'^tMs. It is proljable thai 
€he Saxon homily/" that was rea# iiv England on Easter-day^ 
Was taken from" Scot^s book J Which' does fully reject the 
i^drporal presence. This is ehoilgh to shew that Paschase^s 
opinion was an innovation broached in the ninth century, and 
%*as opposed by all the great men of that age. 

The tenth century was the blackest and- most ignorant of 
all the ages of thes church : there is not one writer in that age 
that gives tis any clear account of the doctrine of the churcfe 
Such remote hints aS occur dd still savour of Ratrsmne's doe- 

* * Throughout the whole of this Homily, the bread and wine are stated to be 
jMV^erstood^/iosfii/ and spiritually, s& the body and blood of Christ. Quoting 
J^Cor. X. They ate the same spiritual meat, and dranh the same spiritual drinh, it is 
tia.d, " Neither -was that stone then from which the water ran bodely Christ, but it 
^tiified C7/?-js^, "because that heavenly tneat that fed them forty years, and that 
Vfsctet which from the stone did flow, had sio-incATiox of Christes bodye and his 
6/ou(ie, that now be offered daylye in Godes church : it was the same which we 
now offer not kodely but ghostly. Moyses and Aaron «;aw that the heavenly 
meat was rvisible and corruptible:"; : <iH(i they understood it spiritually a.n^ received it 
SPIRITUALLY. The Saviour saith, He that eateth my fieihe and drinketh my blood 

M everlasting Ivfe ■■ and He bade them eat, not that body which he was going 
tHHtt; nor that blood1:3^ at^k^wKiehiW^^M§W^ ;m¥h^imMi^ that 
3rrrrTrrfr;<5r; , _ /hrdw ■ lo^rrhr? tfifh nnqr; ^liV'r r>i ,^-r.-^ - 



4m 



?^KVMk the' : tarfesiiJfeh^ fEaschasei sowa *toi ; grow aipi jjlntfod ^Bhet 
popes of that age were sdcli a succession of mdnstersy thato 
Baronius cannot forbear to make the saddest exelamationSi 
possible against their debaucheries^ their cruelties^ and thdwn 
other vices. About the middle of the eleventh century^^^tMt 
thia;'jdlspute had slept almost two hundred years^ itjoi^s 



uBrdfiK) Ijishop o£-Angi£Ts, and Berengarius his archdeacai^ 
maintained the docfi:*ine of Ratramne. Little mention is madfij 
of the bishop ; but the archdeacon is spoken of as a man of^ 
great piety ; so that he passed for a saint^ and was a man of 
such learning, that when he was brought before pope Nicolaus, 
no man could resist Jiim». He writ against Paschase> aniJ hadi 
many followers i the Mstorians of that age tell us tha/t ^wo 
doctrine had overspread alL /France. The ]30oks writ agaaiBsfl 
him by Lanfranc and others are filled with an impudent cbrlo 
rupting of all antiquity. Many councils were held upon tMiii 
nsatter ; and these, together with the . terrors of burnings 
which was then beginning to be the common punishment of 
^isB sdi^ife'sy, made him renounce his opinion : but he returned<to 
4A .iTiBiit'dgain ; yet he afterwards renounced it: though LanfraffiWJ.^ 
^'^ '^'^"^l-eprpached him, that it was not the love of truth, but^thei 
fear of death, that brouglit him to it. And his final retract^^a 
ing of that renouncing of his opinion is lately found Iblb 
France, as I have been credibly informed. Thus this opinion^cf 
that in the ninth century was .generally received, and wasa 
condemned hy neither* pope jioir/ CDiincil, was become sjai 
odious in the eleventh centuryy'that' none durst own it : ande 
he who had the courage to own ^ it, yet was not resolutej 
enough to stand to it : for about this time the doctrine oh 
extirpating heretics, and of deposing such princes as were dm^ 
fective in that matter, was universally put in practice : great)! 
bodies of men began to separate from the Roman communioiil 
in the southern parts of France ; and one of the chief points)! 
of their doctrine was their believing that Christ was not cor-' 
porally present in the Cucharist ; and that he was there only 
in a figure or mystery, Biut now that the contrary doctrine;! 

r^I r : . — ' r— — — — — — til 

word the holy F^icharist, which s^iuiTVAhLY is His body and His hlood. . . , 
In the old law faithful men offered God divers sacrifices'^ 
that had for signijication of Christes body; certainly this Ewc/farist, "which we do ' 
now hallow at God's altar rs a remembrance of Chnst's Z)ocij/, vvhich he olFeritfd-B 
for US: and of His blood which He shed for us,"' - : irf 

For these extracts the Editor is indebted to Dr. Adam Clarke, who, in his ' Dis-/ 
course on the nature and design of the Eucharist,' quotes them from a very rar6 
work, intituled ' A Testimonie of Antiquitie, shewing the auncient faytli in iki&S 
Church of England, touching the Sacrament of the Body and Bloude of tbe j 
Lorde here publikely pi'eached, and also I'eceaved in the Saxons' tyme, above 600 
years ago. Imprinted at London, by John Day.' 18mo. without date, but known 
to have been printed i^i 1567. At the conclusion is an attestation signed by M&t^L 
thew Parker, archbishop of Canterbury, Thomas archbishop of York, and thirteen 
other bishops. — LEc] 




iis'i o^ 



4-4.3 



tarftte burnt, it is no wonder if it quicldy gainfed ground^ \tlieiii ^^^^^ 
dnffch© one hand the priests saw their interest in prOmoting£ 
ife^tanid all people felt the danger of denying it. The anatheS 
mias of the church, and the terrors of burning, were infallible^ 
things to silencfe contradiction at leasts if not to gain assenfeo 
<^^>Soon after* thisodbotmie was received^ the schoolmen began 
to refine upon it, as they did upon every thing els^e. '^^'^^^'j^l 
roastep bf the would not determine liow Christ was ' 

pdesefnt ; wheti^sr of^iTfilaUy or substantially, or some othem 
#ayj^- Ssm^s Miaolmen thought that matter of bread wak; 
destroyed ; but that the /bm remained, to be the form o£g 
Ghrist^s body^ that was the m«^^er of it. Others thougblja 
that ^G imtter of the elements remained^ and that the forma 
o?aly was destroyed: Imt that to which many inclined, wasa 
tteiassumption of the elements into an union Avith the body 
of«Ghii:St, or a hypostatical union of the Eternal Word to 
tkein^ by which they became as iruly a body to Christ, as 
that which he 1ms in heaven: yet it v/as not the same, 
different body. rloirfw 

Stephen bishop of xlutuiiL was the first that fell on the be Sa- 
word transubstantiatwrii , Amalric> ui the beginning of :the: cra:n, au 
thirteenth century, denied in express words the cjarporal .prqe f^"^'^'- 
sehm: he was GOndemned in the fourth council of the^LatermBi 
as I aii heretic,^ and hisibody was ordered to be takendjiptc^iBiii 
b^atnt : and in oppositioni to him; 'transubstantiation was tie^-^ 
creed. Yet the schoolmen-(pntinued to :olFer different expla- 
imtions of this for a great while after that: but in conclusion 
all agreed to explain it as was formerly set forth. It appears, 
by the crude way in which it was at first explained, that it 
was a novelty; and that men did not know how to mould and 
frame it: but at last it was Hcked into shape; the whole phi- 
losophy being cast into such a mould as agreed with it, AxlAa 
therefore, in the present age, in which that philosophy has:f 
lost its credit, great pains are taken to suppress the new and) i 
freer way of philosophy, as that which cannot be so easily:, 
subdued to support this doctrine, as the old one was. Andq 
the arts, that those who go into the new philosophy take toij 
reconcile their scheme to this doctrine, shew that there 4s~- 
nothing that subtile and unsincere men will not venture on 
for, since they make extension to be of the essence of mattery^, 
and think that accidents are only the modes of matter, which 
have no proper being of themselves, it is evident, that a body > 
cannot be without its extension, and that accidents cdimiot 
subsist without their subject; so that this can be in no sort,^ 
reconciled to transubstantiation : and therefore they would * 
willingly avoid this special manner of the presence, and only' 
in general assert that Christ is corporally present. But the 
decrees of the Lateran and Trent councils make it evident, 
that transubstantiation is now a doctrine that is bound upon' 



m4 



A R T them by tJjLg authority o£ the phurch and of .traditioix ; ,af]4 
XX VIII. that they are as much bound to beheve it^ as to beUeve t)^ 
1 corporal presence itself. Thus the , going off from the si«|^- 
plicity in which Christ did deliver the sacrament^ and. i^ 
which the church at first received it_, into some sublime (g^j- 
Ipressions about it, led rnen once out of the way, and they;sit^p 
went further and further from it. Pious and rhetorical figurff^ 
pursued far by men of heated imaginations and of inflam^ 
affections, were followed with explanations invented by col(i|r 
and more designing men afterwards, and so it increased tilljlt 
grew by degrees to that to which at last it settled on. - ,^ 
*Q j^ut after all, if the doctrine of the corporal presence h^ 
* rested only in a speculation, though we should have judg^fi 
J those who held it to., be very bad philosophers, and no go^ 
critics ; yet we could have endured it, if it had rested thei^^ 
a^d ^?^;j^t: gpn|^o^jt5Q>be a matter of practice, by the adora- 
tion and processions, with every thing else of that kind, whi^ 
followed upon it : for this corrupted the worship. -i^^ 
The Lutherans believe a consubstantiation, and that boj^ 
Christ's body and blood, and the substance of tlie elemen^^, 
are together in the sacrament: that some explain by aqi 
ubiquity, which they think is communicated to the huma|i 
nature of Christ, by which his body is every where as wellrj^s 
in the sacrament : whereas others of them think, that sinqe 
oJihe- words of Christ must needs be true in a iitcral sense, his 
- body and blood is therefore in the sacrament, but in, wW^y 
and under, the bread and wine. .Ml this we think is ill groun^- 
,ed, and is neither agreeable to the words of the iiistitutiq]^, 
nor to the nature of things. A great deal of that which wgs 
, formerly set forth in defence of our doctrine falls likev/^e 
,upon this. The ^^^^^^^^/?/ communicated to the human nature, 
; as it seems a thing in itself impossible, so it gives no more io 
the sacrament than to every thing else. Christ's body m^y 
be said to be in every thing, or rather every thing m^y 
be said to be his body and blood, as well as the elements in 
the sacrament. The impossibility of a body's being without 
eifension, or in more places at once, lies against this, as wf 11 
f .as against transubstantiation. But yet, after all, this is only 
a point of speculation, nothing follows upon it in practice, iio 
adoration is offered to the elements ; and therefore we juSge 
that speculative opinions may be borne with, when th^ey 
neither fall upon the fundamentals of Christianity, to give^^s 
false ideas: of the essential parts of our religion, nor affect aiir 
practice ; and chiefly when the worship of God is maintainied 
in its purity, for which we see God has expressed so particu- 
lar a concern, giving it the word which of all others raisesrjn 
us the most sensible and the strongest ideas, calling ^dt 
jealousy; that we reckon we ought to watch over this wifh 
much caution. We can very well bear with some opinions, 
that we think ill grounded, as long as they are only matters 



%F'opffl6ife«lt\i'^^l^^jB'^^dflu%^^^^ ii^e'n¥ rffbl4ls 

tlieir worship; ^TWfe^-still liold comriiunion witli bodies ' 
met], that, as we^jtidge; think wrong, but jet do both live 
%eH, and maintain the purity of the worship of God. We 
~Mow the great design of rehgion is to govern meh^s lives, 
^fed to give them right ideas of God, and of the ways of wor- 
tihipping him. AH Opinions that do hot break in npoii these, 
%r6 things in which great forbekra'nce is to be tised ; large 
"Allowances are to be made for hien^s notions in all other 
^^iliih'gs'; knd therefore we think that neither consubstdntiatton 

nor trdiisubstantiation, how ill grotitided soever we take 
%6th to be/ought to dissolve the tmion and commtmion of 
^htirches: but it is quite another thing, if under either of 
%iese opinions an adoration of the elements is taught and 
<|)ractised.''' - ' 

"f"' This we believe*^WI;^rh idolatry, when an insensible piece 
49f^triatte;]*^ siich as b^kd' and wine, has divine honours paid it : 

when it is believed to be God, when it is called God, and is 
4h" ali respects worshipped with the same adoration that is 
'^Wered upto Almighty God. This we think is gross idolatry, 
^any writers of the church of Rome have acknowledged, that 
^' transithstmtmtion is not true, their worship is a strain of 
^idolatry beyond any that is practised among the most depraved 
®0f ^11 the heathens. 

The only excuse that is offered in this matter is, that since 
^%he declared object of worship is Jesus Christ, believed to be 
"feere present, then, whether he is present or not, the worship 
i%erminates in him; both the secret acts of the worshippers, 
^khdi the professed doctrine of the church, do lodge it there. 
^And therefore it nday be said, that though he should not be 
'Actually present, yet the act of adoration being directed to 
^fiirh 'niust be accepted of God, as right meant, and duly 

directed, even though there should happen to be a mistake in 

the outward application of it. t 

iuodiVfr -snbd g^v! * See note, pp. 417, 418. ' c-^nsmBTDJ?? Sfft 
rr ^ This Vain pretence of worshipping' on condition that the consecrated bread is 

CHrist, is thus met arid ably refuted by Bishop Taylor : — 
■^fl ' .-Ci will not censure the men that do it, or consider concerning the action whether 
q\K be formal idolatry or no. God is their judge and mine, and I beg he would be 
pleased to have mercy upon us all but yet they that are interested, for their own 
particulars, ought to fear and consider these things. 1. That no man, without his own 
fault, can mistake a creature so far, as to suppose him to be a God. 2. That 
, when the heathens worshipped the sun and moon, they did it upon their confidence 
that they were gods, and would not have given to them divine honours, if they had 
■ thought otherwise. 3. That the distinction of material and formal idolatry, though 
hit have a place in philosophy, because the understanding can consider an act with 
. its error, and yet separate the parts of the consideration ; yet hath no place in 
divinity, because in things of so great concernment it cannot but be supposed highly 
agreeable to the goodness and justice of God, that every man be sufficiently 
instructed in his duty and convenient notices. 4. That no man in the world upon 
these grounds, except he that is malicious and spiteful, can be an idolater: for if 
he have an ignorance great enough to excuse him, he can be no idolater j if he 
have not, he is spiteful and malicious; and then all the heathen are also excused 
as well as they. 5. That if good, intent and ignorance in^such cases tan take off 



446 



^^^^ t» may^lbeiipaii(fenA^ib^ 6^#f>iRWti$^slii M^p^^^^^fMi^, 
" md. who does ■ceftamly 'consider chMy'^tke h'ekrri 6f Jiis tfi^eia*- 
tures, and is merciful to their infirmitiesj and to snch erroffe 
as arise out of their weakness^ their hearts being sincere hefl6^h 
hini. We ought to consider this action as it is in itself, atid 
Bi^t according to men's apprehensions and opinions about it. 
M tbetoonQei%that ;the ancient idolaters h?td both concernrng 
Ibi^lods^/tolafeheiMofe that they woi^hippedy will exctisi 
from idolatry^ it will be very hard to say that there were e-vS 
idolaters in the world. Th&se who worshipped the mn^ 
thought that the great divinity was lodged there/ as in 8t 
vehicle or temple ; but yet they were not by reason of thltt 
misconception excused from being idolaters. ''^^ 
? If „a false opinion upon which a practice is founded^ take^ 
S^fwilJbGMriany good authoiMty^ ^will excuse men^^S sins^ it will 
be' easy for them to find oaprotegies for every thing. If th§ 
worship of the elements had been commanded by God^ the^ 
an opinion concerning it might excuse the carrying of that too 
far ; but^ there being no command for it;, no hint given about 
it^ nor; aoay insinuation given of any such practice in th!ef 
beginnings of Ghristianity^ an opinion that men have takeW 
■yifrjcannot jxistify a new practice^ of which neither the first, 
tior a great many of the following ages knew any thing. An 
opinion cannot justify nien^s practice founded upon it, if that 
proves to be false. All the softening that can be given it i^/ 
that it is a sin of ignorance f but that does not change the 
na^tiireiof theoaotiorii, how far ^ever 4l^^niay go with relatidii' 
to tlm judgments of God ; if -tMel^^^ taken uj^- 

the crime, then the persecators that killed the apostles, thinking they did God 
good Service, and Saul in blaspheming the religion and persecuting the servants 
of Jesus, and the Jews themselves in crucifying the Lord of life, who did it ignor 
rant ly as did also their rulers, have met with the excuse upon the same accouat.. 
And therefore it is not safe for the men of the Roman communion to take^ 
anodyne medicines and narcotics to make them insensible of the pain ; for it will 
not cure their disease. Their doing it upon the cloak of error and ignorance^ I 
hope will dispose them to receive a pardon ; but yet also that supposes thei^ 
criminal; and although I wouW. not for alk the world be their accuser, or the 
aggravator of the crime ; yet I am not umvilling to be the rem^embrancer, tha^ ' 
themselves may avoid the danger. For though Jacob was innocent in lying with 
Leah instead of Rachel, because he had no cause to suspect the deception, yet 
Penelope, who had not seen Ulysses in twenty years, should see one come to her 
nothing like Ulysses, but saying he were her husband, she should give but a poor' 
account of her chastity if she should actually admit him to her bed, only saying^if 
you be Ulysses, or on supposition that you are Ulysses, I admit you. For if sji^- 
certainly admits him, of whom she is uncertain, she certainly is an adultress ; 
because she having reason to doubt, ought first to be satisfied of her question. 
Since therefore besides the insuperable doubts of the main article itself, in the 
practice and particulars there are acknowledged so many ways of deception, and 
confessed that the actual failings are frequent, it will be but a weak excuse to say, 
I worship thee if thou be the Son of God; and I do not wwship thee if thou 
beest not consecrated ; and, in the mean time, the Diviiie worship is actually 
exhibited to what is set before us. At the best we may say to these men, as Qiip, , 
blessed Saviour to the woman of Samaria, " ;/e worship ye know not what; but wis 
know what to worship.'" — [Ed.] 



Tm mmyimwiciMs, 



44 f 



^j^d stilHy «iamtained^ the) wpiishipi that' isititrtfdiHcediupon it Ai^'^> 
^i^i^gravajted by the ill fo!iin4aftian tjikt'itf^isl^bu^tetipoiii n ^^^^^^ 
^§9;vv^0od by lias essence is every whclier;; ) but adds will' nsot 
j^^^^j^^ir Avorshipping any material objlctriftpQffli iMi pretence^ 
^?i^i|se God is in it ; we ought never to is^orshi^f hini towards 
jE^jjy ivisible object, unless he were e^n den tly declaring his 
glopy it^ it; as he did to Moses in the flaming bush; to the 
Israelites on mOuiit Sinai, and in the cloud of glory ; or to u^ 
phristians in a sublimer manner in the human nature of Jesui 

j^^j^^i^t)y>'<Jiis 'parityn^^i^ we were sure that 

Christ were iii the elements, yet since he is there invisible, as 
(Jf)4:PLs by. bis ^sence every where, we ought to direct S(3 
adoration to the elements ; we ought only to worship God, 
^4phi^?^ix fihiiist Jesus, in the grateful remembrance :ofJiis 
llj^ef mgs ■ /or ; us which are therein commemorated, r • 
^^fht? not to suffer our worship to terminate on the vi^bM 
fiemeiits; because ifrGhrist is in them, yet iie does not mani-^ 
fest that visibly to us; since therefore the opinion of the 
eorporal presence, upon which this adoration is fouiidfed, i§ 
feilse, and since no such worship is so much as mentioned/ 
much less commanded in scripture ; and since there can scarce 
be any idolatry .4n the world so gross, as that it shall nC^ 
excuse itself by some sueh doctrine, by which all the acts of 
■v^^ship are -made to terminate finally in God; we must^oti-J 
elude that this plea cannot excuse the ohurch of Rome from 
idolatry, even though their doctrine of the corporal presence' 
\>i^i:e true ; but much less if it is false. We do therefore con- 
deimn this vv^or ship as idolatry, without taking upon us -to 
define the extent of the mercies of God towards_aU^thos.e.3dm 
are involved in it. 

1 Jf Kll the premises are true, then it is needless to insist 
longer on explaining the following paragraph of the Article ; 
thisit Chris fs body is received in the sacrament in a heavenly 
mid spiritual manner ^ and that the mean by which it is received 
IS faith; for that is such a natural result of them, that it 
appears evident of itself, as being the conclusion that arises^ 
out of those premises. 

The last paragraph is against the reserving, carrying about y.^ 
the lifting up ^ or the iv or shipping ^ the sacrament. The pomfc ~ 
concerning the worship, which is the most essential of themy. 
has been abeady considered. As for the reserving or carr3ring 
the sacrament about, it is very visible that the institution is, 
^ Take, eat,^ and ^ drink ye all of it ;^ which does import, that 
the consuming the elements is a part of the institution, and,' 
by consequence, that they are a sacrament only as they are 
distributed and received. It is true, the practice of reserving 
or sending about the elements began very early ; the state of 
things at first made it almost unavoidable. When there 
were yet but a fev/ converted to Christianity, and when there 



448 



AN EXPOSITION OF 



A R T. were but few priests to serve them^ they neither could nor 
durst meet altogether^ especially in the times of persecution ; 
so some parts of the elements were sent to the absent, to 
those in prison, and particularly to the sick, as a symbol of 
their being parts of the body, and that they were in the peace 
and communion of the church. The bread was sent with the 
wine, and it was sent about by any person whatsoever ; some- 
Eus.Hist. times by boys; as appears in the famous story of Serapion in 
lib.vi.c.44. ^}jg third century. So that the condition of the Christians in 
that time made that necessary, to keep them all in the sense 
of their obligation to union and communion with the church ; 
and that could not well be done in any other way. But we 
make a great difference between this practice, when taken up 
out of necessity, though not exactly conform to the first insti- 
tution : and the continuing it out of superstition, when there 
is no need of it. Therefore instead of consecrating a larger 
portion of elements than is necessary for the occasion, and 
the reserving what is over and above ; and the setting that 
out with great pomp on the altar, to be worshipped, or the 
carrying it about with a vast magnificence in a procession 
invented to put the more honour on it ; or the sending it to 
the sick with solemnity ; we choose rather to consecrate only 
so much as may be judged fit for the number of those who 
are to communicate. And when the sacrament is over, we 
do, in imitation of the practice of some of the ancients, con- 
sume what is left, that there may be no occasion given either 
to superstition or irreverence. And for the sick, or the 
prisoners, we think it is a greater mean to quicken their devo- 
tion, as well as it is a closer adhering to the words of the 
institution, to consecrate in their presence : for though we 
can bear with the practice of the Greek church, of reserving 
and sending about the eucharist, when there is no idolatry 
joined with it; yet we cannot but think that this is the 
continuance of a practice, which the state of the first ages 
introduced, and that was afterwards kept up, out of a too 
scrupulous imitation of that time ; without considering that 
the difference of the state of the Christians, in the former and 
in the succeeding ages, made that what was at first innocently 
practised (since a real necessity may well excuse a want of 
exactness in some matters that are only positive) became 
afterwards an occasion of much superstition, and in conclusion 
ended in idolatry. Those ill effects that it had are more than 
is necessary to justify our practice in reducing this strictly to 
the first institution. 

As for the lifting up of the eucharist, there is not a word of 
it in the gospel ; nor is it mentioned by St. Paul : neither 
Justin Martyr nor Cyril of Jerusalem speak of it ; there is 
nothing concerning it neither in the Constitutions, nor in the 
Areopagite. In those first ages all the elevation that is 
spoken of is, the lifting up of their hearts to God. The 



century; for it is mentioned in tile liturgy called St. Chry- ^£^^2' 
sostom's, but believed to be much later than his time. Ger^ Germ, 
trian, a writer of the Greek church of the thirteenth centuryl Const, in 

the first that descants upon it ; he speaks not of it as dori6 ^^^^2 
ill order to the adoration of it^ but makes it to represent both Bibi.patr. 
Christ^s being lifted up on the cross^ and also his resurrection', ivo. Cam. 
Ivo of Chartres, who lived in the end of the eleventh centur^ 
is the first of all the Latins that speaks of it ; but then it was Bibi. pat. * 
fiot commonly practised; for the author of tlie Micrblogiiy, 
though he writ at the same time, yet does not mention \% 
who yet is very minute upon all partictilars relating to thfs 
sacrament. Nor does Ivo speak of it as done in order tl) 
adoration, but only as a form of shewing it to the peo|)ld 
'Biirand, a Avriter of the thirteenth century, is the first th^ Dur. Rat. 
Ipeaks of the elevatmi^s done in order to the adorWtMhP^'^^b fiJJ'if 

appears that our church, by cutting off these abu^¥^*M"fe sexta parte 
Vestored this sacrament to its primitive simplicity, accordiri^ Can. 
to the institution arid the practie#M^the first a^^S/^J^ '^ 

oi cii gaiDiisa odj lo i n no ujonoxf siom aiiJ 3uq oi bsjnsvnl 
^Ino aijsiosanoo oi isdisi aaoodo 9W i jdiamoloa dfiw jloia edi 
odw saodi lo ladmnn sdi lo^ ifl: bagbn^ sd jsm 8b doum oa 
9W {levo 81 iaemsiom edi nadw bnA ^a^somirmmoo oi aia 
-noo t8^n9ronB edi lo amoa lo soiioBiq sdi lo norfB^imi nr ^ob 
lad^ia nsYig noiajsaoo on ad jEm eisdi :tj3rfi ^AqI ai isdw ^m^^ 
edi 10 ^:^m adi lol bnA .aonaiayani lo noiiilgisqng ol 
-ovab tiodi nsioinp n^am laisaig b ai -Amdi aw ^^-^^s^oahci^ 
adi lo abTow edi oi -gahodbB laaolo b ai fi 8£ Haw eb ^aob 
aw dgifodi lol ^aanaaaiq iladJ ni aifiioaanoa oi ^noiix/^ligni 
gniviasai lo e^doindo iaaiO add lo aoljoniq adi d^iw laad nsa 
/liBlobi on si Qiodi nadw ^^ahsdona adi toods -gaibass baB 
sdi gi aidi isdi Anidi ind ionnBO aw -isj i^ii diiw banloi 
BQ-gB iaiii arii lo aieia adi doidir ^QohoBiq b lo aon^nniinoo 
ooi B lo iuo ^qjj ^qail abiswiailB 8bw cisdi buB ^baonboiini 
3Bdi ^ahabianoa tood^iw i amii ^sdl lo noiiBiimi anolnqmoa 
has Tamiol adi ni ^^^Bt^hdO adi lo ais^a adi lo aonaiaHib adi 
Yl^flasonni dsih Is sbw isdw 3Bd3 ab^ra ^89^^ gmbaaoous edi ai 
o ^nfiw B 381/0X9 Haw jBm i(ii88aoafr Ibqi b aonia) baaiiasiq 
'maoad (avijiaoq jlm ais iedi giail^m amoa ni 88an:ta^x9 
aoiaulonoo nr bas ^noi^llaiaqng dairm lo noiBBOOO hb abiBwiajls 
f&di aiora gib bBii 3i isdi aioaHa Hi aaodT .y'^^^^o^^ babna 
Y^^^^*^^^ ^^^^ gnioijb9i ril aoi^DBiq luo Y^^^^^^l Y"^^^^^^^^ 

^noiiniiiani 3s'ih sd) 
\o blow B .1on 81 aiadt ^ianBdoj/a adi lo qu 'gfiiiYd adl lol aA 
tsdfi^n iiuB^ JS \d banoxinam ii ai ion jlaq80§ adi ni 
?j siad;^ { ii lo sfsaqa maiB8m9T, lo 1x1^0 ion i^iisM niiauL 
3dJ fii ion ^afiol^uii^anoD adi nr ladiian gniniaonoa gnidion 
21 isds nobavala adi Mb sags iaift aaodi nl .aiigsqoaiA 
^dl'". .boO oi aliBsd liadi lo qu -onhYd adi ,ai lo naioqg 

2 G 



450 



AN EXPOSITION OF 



ART. 
XXIX. 



ARTICLE XXIX,. 




lio farnanj) autr btfjibli) pvts'^ imtl) tijcir CtctI) (a^ ^t. ^xisltm 
igaitl)) tl^c ^acramtnt of t^c^.ot]ii| mxti Mlcola of Cljvi^t, mt in 
no h)i^t art t\)tij 3Partaifeci'^ of C|)n^t; hut ratiicr, to tl^tfv con^ 
tJcmuatipn, tfo tat antJ tJrmfe t!)t ^tgn or ^acramait of sio great 



This Article arises naturally out of the former^ and depends 
upon it : for if Christ^^ bpdy is corporally present in the 
sacrament, then all persons^, good or bad, who receive the 
sacrament, do also receive Christ ; on the other hand, if 
Christ is present only in a spiritual maimer, and if the mean 
that receives Christ is then such as believe not, do 
not receive him. So that to prove that the wicked do not 
receive Christ^s body and blood, is upon the matter the same 
thing with the proving that he not corporally present ; and 
it is a very considerable branch of our argument by which we 
prove that the fathers did not believe the corporal presence, 
because they do very often say, that the wicked do not receive 
Christ in the sacrament. 

Here the same distinction is to be made that was men- 
tioned upon the article of baptism. The sacraments are to be 
considered either as they are acts of church-communion, or 
as they are federal acts, by which we enter into covenant with 
God. With respect to the former, the visible profession that 
is made, and the action that is done, are all that can fail under 
human cognizance: so a sacrament must be held to be good 
and vahd, when, as to outward appearance, all things are done 
according to the institution : but as to the internal effect and 
benelit of it ; that turns upon the truth of the profession that 
is made, and the sincerity of those acts which do accompany 
it: for, if these are not seriously and sincerely performed, 
God is dishonoured, and his institution is profaned. Our Sa- 
viour has expressly said, that ^ whosoever eats his flesh, and 
drinks his blood, has eternal life.^ From thence we conclude, 
that no man does truly receive Christ, who does not at the 
same time receive with him both a right to eternal life, and 
likewise the beginnings and earnests of it. The sacrament 
being a federal act, he who dishonours God, and profanes 
this institution, by receiving it unworthily, becomes highly 
guilty before God, and draws down judgments upon himself : 
and as it is confessed on all hands, that the inward and spi- 



a C^ing;. 



THE XXXIX ARTICLES. 



451 



ritual effects of the sacrament depend upon the state and dis- A R T, 
position of him that communicates, so we, who own no other XXIX. 
presence but an inward and spiritual one, cannot conceive that 
the wicked, who believe not in Christ, do receive him. 

In this point several of the fathers have delivered them- 
selves very plainly. 

Origen says, Christ is the true food, whosoever eats him shall Comment. 
live for ever; of whom no loicked person can eat ; for if it were in Matth. 
possible that any who contimies wicked should eat, the Word^' 
that was made flesh, it had H^ver been ivritten, Whoso eats this 
bread shall live for ever. This comes after a discourse of the 
sacrament, which he calls the typical and symbolical body, 
and so it can only belong to it. In another place he says, The 
good eat the living bread, which came down from heaveii; but 
the wicked eat dead bread, which is death. 

Zeno, bishop of Verona, who is believed to have lived near D'Achery. 
Origen^s time, has these words : There is cause to fear that Spicile- 
he, in ivhom the Devil dwells, does not eat the flesh of our Lord, jj 
nor drink his blood ; though he seems to communicate with the 
faithful ; since our Lord has said, He that eats my flesh, and 
drinks my blood, dwells in me, and I in him. 

St. Jerome says, Tliey that are not holy in body and spirit, \^ cap. 66. 
do neither eat the flesh of Jesus, nor drink his blood ; of which isai«. 
he said. Lie that eats my flesh, and drinks my blood, hath 
eternal life. 

St. Augustin expresses himself in the very words that are Tract. 26. 
cited in the Article, which he introduces with these words : in Joan. 
He that does not abide in Christ, and in whom Christ does not 
abide, certainly does not spiritually eat his flesh, nor drink his 
blood, though he may visibly and carnally press with his teeth 
the sacrament of the body and blood of Christ : but he rather 
eats and drinks the sacrament of so great a matter to his con- 
demnation. And in another place he says. Neither are they ^xi.de 
(speaking of vicious persons) to be said to eat the body of Civ, Dei, 
Christ, because they are not his members : to which he adds, ^- ^5. 
He that says. Whoso eats my flesh, and drinks my blood, abides 
in me, and I in him, sheivs what it is not only in a sacrament, 
but truly to eat the body of Christ, and to drink his blood. He 
has upon another occasion those frequently cited words, 
speaking of the difference between the other disciples and 
Judas, in receiving this sacrament : These did eat the bread Tract. 54. 
that was the Lord fpanem Dominum) ; but he the bread of the in Joan. 
Lord against the Lord (panem Domini contra Dominum). To 
aU this a great deal might be added, to shew that this was the 
doctrine of the Greek church, even after Damascene^s opinion 
concerning the assumption of the elements into an union with 
the body of Christ, was received among them. But more 
needs not be said concerning this, since it will be readily 
granted, that, if we are in the right in the main point of 
denying the corporal presence, this will fall with it. 



452 



AN EXPOSITION OF 



ART. 
XXX. 



ARTICLE XXX. 

f , ' ".mid t< 

v'" '" ' : ' 'Of both mm. 

. .;,|3c7vt^ of ti)c ^arramnit, Cljnst'iS (?5i-"Qiij,aiu( anti, Comman'tf^ 
i ijtf)U, Jjucj^t te, jbc ttuius'ti-tt( to all Cijvt^ttaii ^Hnt, attfet. 

There is not any one of all the controversies that Ave have 
v/ith the chiu-ch of Rome^ in which the decision seems more 
easy and shorter than this. The words of the institution are 
not only equall}^ express and positive, as to both kinds, but 
the diversity with which that part that relates to the cup is 
set down, seems to be a,s clear a demonstration for \is, as can 
be had in a matter of this kind i and looks like a special 
direction given, to warn the church against any corruption 
that might arise upon this head. To all such as acknowledge 
the immediate union of the Eternal Word with the human 
nature of Christ, and the inspiration by which the apostles 
Avere conducted, it must be of great weight to find a specialty 
marked as to the chalice: of the cup it is said, Drink ye all 
of it whereas of tlie bread it is only said, ^ Take, eat so 
we cannot think the word a// was set dpAvn without design. 
It is also said of the cup, and they all drank of it f which is 
not said of tlie bread : we think it no piece of trifling nicety 
to observe this specialt)\ The words added to the giving the 
cup are very particularly emphatical. '^Take, eat. This is my 
body which is given for you,^ is not so full an expression as, 
^ Drink ye all of this, for this is my blood of the new tes- 
tament which is shed for many, for the remission of sins.^ If 
the surest way to judge of the extent of any precept, to which 
a reason is added, is to consider the extent of the reason, and 
to measure the extent of the precept by that; then since all 
that do communicate, need the remission of sins, and a share 
in the new covenant, the reason, that our Saviour joins to the 
distribution of the cup, proves that they ought all to receive 
it. And if that discourse in St. John concerning the eating 
Christ's flesh, and the drinking his blood, is to be understood 
of the sacrament, as most of the Roman church aflirm, then 
the drinking Chrisfs blood is as necessary to eternal life as the 
eating his flesh; by consequence it is as necessary to receive 
the cup as the bread. And it is not easy to apprehend why 
it should still be necessary to consecrate in both kinds, and 
not likewise to receive in both kinds. It cannot be pretended, 
that since the apostles were all of the sacred order, therefore 
their receiving in both kinds is no precedent for giving the 



THE XXXIX ARTICLES. 



453 



laity the cup ; for Christ gave them both kiiids^ as they were A R 
sinners who were now to be admitted into covenant with God 
by the sacrifice of his body and blood. They were in that 
^to shew forth his death/ and were to '^take, eat^ and drink^ in 
remembrance of him.' So that this institution Avas dehvered 
to them as they were sinners, and not as they were priests. 
They were not constituted by Christ the pastors and go- 
vernors of his Church, till after his resurrection, when ^ he John 
breathed on them, and laid his hands on them, and bleissed 22. 
them.^ So that at this time they were only Ghrisf s disciples 
and witnesses; who had been once sent out by him on an 
extraordinary commission; but had yet no stated character 
fixed upon them. - 

To this it is said, that Christ, by saying, ^ Do this,^ consti- 
tuted them priests ; so that they were no more of the laity, 
when they received the cup. This is a new conceit taken up 
by the schoolmen unknown to all antiquity : there is no sort 
of tradition that supports this exposition ; nor is there any 
reason to imagine, that ^Do this,' signifies any other than 
a precept to continue that institution as a memorial of 
Christ^s death; and '^Do this,' takes in all that went before, 
the taking/, the giving, as well as the blessing, and the eating, 
the bread ; nor is there any reason to appropriate this to the 
blessing only, as if by this the consecrating and sacrificing 
power were conferred on the priests. From all which we 
conclude both that the apostles were only disciples at large, 
without any special characters conferred on them, when the 
eucharist was instituted, and that the eucharist was given to 
them only as disciples, that is, as laymen. 

The mention that is made, in some places of the New Tes- 
tament, only of breaking of bread,^ can furnish them with 
no argument ; for it is not certain that these do relate to the 
sacrament ; or if they did, it is not certain that they are to be 
understood strictly; for, by a figure common to the eastern 
nations, bread stands for all that belongs to a meal; and if 
these places are applied to the sacrament, and ought to be 
strictly understood, they will prove too much, that the sacra- 
ment may be consecrated in one kind; and that the 'breaking 
of bread,^ without the cup, may be understood to be a com- 
plete sacrament. But when St. Paul spoke of this sacrament, 
he does so distinctly mention the drinking the cup^ as well as 
' eating the bread,^ that it is. plain from him how the apostles 
understood the words and intent of Christ, and how this sa- 
crament was received in that time. 

From the institution and command, which are express and 
positive, we go next to consider the nature of sacramental 
actions. They have no ^drtue in them, as charms tied either 
to elements, or to words ; they are only good because com- 
manded. A different state of things may indeed justify an 
alteration as to circumstances : the danger of dipping in cold 



454: 



AN EXPOSITION OP 



A R T. climates^ may be a very good reason for changing the form 
^^-^^ of baptism to sprinkling ; and if cHmates were inhabited by 
Christians to which wine could not be brought^ we should not 
doubt but that whensoever God makes a real necessity of de- 
parting from any institution of his^ he does thereby allow of 
such a change^ as that necessity must draw after it : so we do 
not condemn the license that is said to have been granted by 
pope Innocent the Eighth to celebrate without wine in Nor- 
way ; nor should we deny a man the sacrament who had a 
natursil and unconquerable aversion to wine^ or that commu- 
nicated being nCfir his last agonies^ and that should have the 
like aversion to either of the elements. When those things 
are real, and not pretended, mercy is better than sacrifice. 
The punctual observance of a sacramental institution does 
only oblige us to the essential parts of it, and in ordinary 
cases : the pretence of what may be done, or has been done, 
upon extraordinary occasions, can never justify the deliberate 
and unnecessary alteration of an essential part of the sacra- 
ment. The whole institution shews very plainly, that our 
Saviour meant that the cwp should be considered every whit 
as essential as bread; and therefore we cannot but conclude 
from the nature of things, that since the sacraments have only 
their effects from their institution, therefore so total a change 
of this sacrament does plainly evacuate the institutioja,, an4 by 
consequence destroy the effect of it. = f : ■ - 

All reasoning upon this head is an arguing against the 
institution ; as if Christ and his apostles had not well 
enough considered it; but that 1200 years after them, a 
consequence should be observed that till then had not been 
thought of, which made it reasonable to alter the manner 
of it. 

The concomitance is the great thing that is here m-ged ; 
since it is believed that Christ is entirely under each of 
the elements; and therefore it is not necessary that both 
should be received, because Christ is fully received in any 
one. But this subsists on the doctrine of transuhstawtia- 
tion ; so if that is false, then here upon a controverted 
opinion, an uncontro verted piece of the institution is altered. 
And if concomitance is a certain consequence of the doctrine 
of transubstantiation, then it is a very strong argument 
against the antiquity of that doctrine, that the world was so 
long without the notion of concomitance ; and therefore, if 
transubstantiation hsA been sooner received, the concomi- 
tance would have been more easily observed. The institution 
of the sacrament seems to be so laid down, as rather to make 
us consider the body and blood as in a state of separation, 
than of concomitance ; the body being represented apart, and 
the blood apart ; and the body as broken^ and the blood as 
shed. Therefore we consider the design of the sacrament is, 
to represent Christ to us as dead, and in his crucijied,h\xt 



THE XXXIX ARTICLES. 



455 



not in his glorified state. And if the opinion be true^ that 4.^ J* 

the glorified bodies are of another texture than that of flesh 

and blood which seems to be very plainly asserted by St. 
Paul^ in a discourse intended to describe the nature of the 
glorified bodies, tiien this theory of concomitance will fail 
upon that account. But whatsoever may be in that, an 
institution of Christ's must not be altered or violated, upon 
the accoimt of an inferenrce that is drawn to conclude it need- 
less. He who instituted it knew l^est what was most fitting 
and most reasonable; and we must choose rather te acquiesce ' 
in his commands, than in our Oiwn reasonings. ' T' i = ; 

If, next to the institution and the theory that arises from 
the nature of a sacrament, w^e consider the practice of the 
Christian church in all ages, there is not any one poiht in 
which the tradition of the church is more express and more 
universal than in this particular, for above a thousand years 
after Christ. All the accounts that we have of the ancient 
rituals, both in Justin Martyr, Cyril of Jerusalem, the Con- Apol. 2. 
stitutions, and the pretended Areopagite, do expressly men- ^j^g^'^^ *^ 
tion both kinds as given separately in the sacrament. All Const, 
the ancient hturgies, as Avell these that go under the names of Apost. 1. ii. 
the apostles, as those which are ascribed to St. Basil and St. jj^^^J^^ 
Chrysostom, do mention this very expressly ; all the offices Hiera. c. 3. 
of the western church, both Roman aud others; the missals 
of the latter ages, I mean down to the tweKth century, even 
the Orc/o i?oma;zw5, believed by some to be a work of the 
ninth, and by others of the eleventh century, are express in 
mentioning the distribution of both kinds. All the fathers, 
"without excepting one, do speak of it very clearly, as the uni- 
versal practice of their time. They do not so much as give a 
hint of any difi^erence about it. So that, from Ignatius down 
to Thomas Aquinas, there is not any one writer that differs 
from the rest in this point ; and even Aquinas speaks of the Aquin. 
taking away the chalice as the practice only of some churches; Com. ia 
other writers of his time had not heard of any of these ^gJ^g^'J* 
churches ; for they speak of both kinds 2,^ the universal ma. par. 9" 

practice. quaest. 80. 

But besides this general concurrence, there are some 
specialties in this matter : in St. Cyprian's time some thought 
it was not necessary to use wine in the sacrament ; they 
therefore used water only, and were from thence called 
Aquarii. It seems they found that their morning assemblies 
were smelled out by the wine used in the sacrament ; and 
Christians might be known by the smeU of wine that was still 
about them ; they therefore intended to avoid this, and so 
they had no wine among them, which was a much weightier 
reason, than that of the wine sticking upon the beards of the 
laity. Yet St. Cyprian condemned this very severely, in a Gyp. Ep. 
long epistle writ upon that occasion. He makes this the ^^^^^ 
main argument, and goes over it frequently, that we ought to 



456 



AN EXPOSITION OF 



A RT. follow Christy and do what he did : and he has those me- 
morable words, If it he not lawful to loose any one of the 
least commands of Christ, how much more is it unlawful 
to break so great and so weighty a one; that does so very 
nearly relate to the sacrament of our Lord^s passion, and of 
our redemption ; or by any human institution to change it 
into that ivhich is quite different from the divine institu- 
tion. This is so full, that we cannot express ourselves more 
plainly. 

Among the other profanations of the Manicheans, this was 
one, that they came among the assemblies of the Christians, 
and did receive the bread, but they would not take any 
lu^o.^QxA. wine : this is mentioned by pope Leo in the fifth century; 
Decref ^de ^P^^ whicli popc Gclasius, hearing of it in his time, appointed 
Consecr. that all persons should either communicate in the sacrament 
(list. 2. entirely, or be entirely excluded from it ; for that such a 
dividing of one and the same sacrament might not be done 
without a heinous sacrilege. 

In the seventh century a practice was begun of dipping 
the bread in the wine, and so giving both kinds together. 
Decret. de This was condemned by the council of Bracara, as plainly 
contrary to the gospel: Christ gave his body and blood to 
his apostles distinctly, the bread by itself, and the chalice 
by itself This is, by a mistake of Gratian^s, put in the 
canon-law, as a decree of pope Julius to the bishops of 
Egypt. It is probable, that it was thus given first to the 
sick, and to infants; but though this got among many of the 
eastern churches, and was, it seems, practised in some parts 
of the west ; yet, in the end of the eleventh century, pope 
Concil. Urban in the council of Clermont decreed, that none should 
031^28°"^ communicate without taking the body apart, and the blood 
apart, except upon necessity, and with caution ; to which 
some copies add, and that by reason of the heresy of Beren- 
garius, that was lately condermied, ivhich said that the figure 
was completed by one of the kinds. 

We need not examine the importance or truth of these last 
words ; it is enough for us to observe the continued practice 
of communicating in both kinds till the twelfth century ; and 
even then, when the opinion of the corporal presence begot 
a superstition towards the elements, that had not been known 
in former ages, so that some drops sticking to men^s beards, 
and the spilling some of it, its freezing or becoming sour, grew 
to be more considered than the institution of Christ ; yet for 
a while they used to suck it up through small quills or pipes 
(called fistulce, in the Or do Romanus), which answered the 
objection from the beards. 

In the twelfth century, the bread grew to be given gene- 
rally dipt in wine. The writers of that time, though they 
justify this practice, yet they acknowledge it to be contrary 
to the institution. Ivo of Chartres says, the people did com- 



THE XXXIX ARTICLES. 



457 



municate with dipt bread, not by authority, but by necessity, ART. 
for fear of spilling the blood of Christ. Pope Innocent the 
Fourth said^ that all might have the chalice who were so 
caQtious that nothing of it should be spilt. 

In the ancient churchy the instance of Serapion is brought ^'^t 
to shew that the bread alone was sent to the sick, which he * ^' 
that carried it was ordered to moisteji before he gave it him. 
Justin Martyr does plainly insinuate that both kinds were Just. Mart, 
sent to the absents ; so some of the loine might be sent to '^P^'* ^' 
Serapion with the bread; and it is much more reasonable to 
beheve this, than that the bread was ordered to be dipt in 
ivater ; there being no such instance in all histor}^ ; whereas 
there are instances brought to shew that both kinds were 
carried to the sick. St. Ambrose received the bread, but Paulinus 
expired before he received the cup : this proves nothing but ^JjJ^^^g 
the weakness of the cause that needs such supports. Nor 
can any argument be brought from some words concerning 
the communicating of the sick, or of infants. Rules are made 
from ordinary, and not from extraordinary practices. The 
small portions of the sacrament that some carried home, and 
reserved to other occasions, does not prove that they com- 
municated only in one kind. They received in both, only they 
kept (out of too much superstition) some fragments of the 
one, which could be more easily, and with less observation, 
saved and preserved, than of the other: and yet there are 
instances that they carried off some portions of both kinds. 
The Greek church communicates during most of the days in 
Lent, in bread dipt in ivine ; and in the Ordo Romanus there is 
mention made of a particular communion on Good Friday ; 
when some of the bread that had been formerly consecrated was 
put into a chalice with unconsecrated wine : this was a prac- 
tice that was grounded on an opinion that the unconsecrated 
wine was sanctified and consecrated by the contact of the 
bread ; and though they used not a formal consecration, yet 
they used other prayers, which was all that the primitive 
church thought was necessary even to consecration ; it being 
thought, even so late as Gregory the Great^s time, that the 
Lord's Prayer was at first the prayer of consecration. 

These are all the colours which the studies and the sub- 
tilties of this age have been able to produce for justifying the 
decree of the council of Constance that does acknowledge, Cone. 

, ; Const. 

* The following is the decree of the council of Constance on the subject of half 
communion : — 

' Cum in nonnullis mundi partibus, quidam temerarie asserere praesumant, po- 
pulum Christianum debere sumere eucharistias sacramentum, sub utraque panis et 
vini specie suscipere, et non solum sub specie panis, sed etiam sub specie vini, 
populum laicum passim communicent, etiam post coenam, vel alias non jejunum, 
&c. &c. hinc est, quod hoc presens concilium sacrum generale Constant, in spiritu 
sancto legitime congregatum, adversus hunc errorem saluti fidelium providere sata- 
gens, matura plurium doctorum, tarn divini quam humani juris, deliberatione 
praehabita, declarat, decernit, et diffinit, quod licet Christus post coenam instituerit, 



458 AN EXPOSITION OF 



ART. that Christ did institute this sacrament in both hinds, and 
that the faithful in the primitive church did receive in both 
hinds : yet, a practice l^eing reasonably brought in to avoid 
some dangers and scandals, they appoint the custom to con- 
tinue, of consecrating in both kinds, and of giving to the 
laity only in one hind: since Christ was entire and truly 
under each hind. They estabhshed this practice, and ordered 
that it should not be altered without the authority of the 
church. So late a practice and so late a decree cannot make 
void the command of Christ, nor be set in opposition to such 
a clear and universal practice to the contrary. The wars of 
Bohemia that followed upon that decree, and all that scene of 
cruelty which was acted upon John Huss and Jerom of Prague, 
at the first establishment of it^ shews what opposition was 
made to it even in dark ages, and by men that did not deny 
transubstantiation. These prove that plain sense and clear 
authorities are so strong, even in dark and corrupt times, as 
not to be easily overcome. And this may be said concerning 
this matter, that as there is not any one point in which the 
church of Rome has acted more visibly contrary to the gospel 
than in tin ; ; so there is not any one thing that has raised 
higher prejudices againi^t her, that has made more forsake her, 
and has possessed mankind more against her, than this. This 
has cost her dearer than any other. ... 

■ ^(:,. 

et suis discipulis administraverit, sub utraque specie panis et vini, hoc venerabile 
sacramentum, tamen hoc xion obstante, sgicrorum canonum auctoritas laudabilis ; et 
approbata consuetudo ecclesiee servavit et servat, quod hujus modi sacramentum 
non debet confici post coenam, neque ia fidelibus recipi non jejunis, nisi in casu 
infirmitatis, alterius necessitatis, ajure vel ecclesia concesso vel admisso. Et sicut 
haec consuetudo ad evitandum aliqua pericula et scandala est rationabiliter intro- 
ducta, quod licet , in primitiva ecclesia hujusmodi saci'amentum reciperetur a fide- 
libus sub utraque specie, postea a conficientibus sub utraque, et a laicis tantummodo 
sub specie panis, suscipiatur, &c. Unde cum hujusmodi consuetudo ab ecclesia 
et Sanctis patribus rationabiliter introducta, et diutissime observata sit, habenda est 
pro lege, quam non licet reprohare, aut sine ecclesiee auctoritate pro libito mutare. 
Quapropter dicere, quod banc consuetudinem aut legem observare, sit sacrilegum 
aut illicitum, censeri debet erroneum : et pertinaciter asserentes oppositum prse- 
missorum, tanquam haretici arcendi sunt, et gmviter puniendi per disecesanos 
locorum, seu officiales eorum, aut inquisitores hsereticse pravitatis, in regnis seu 
provinciis, in quibus contra hoc decretum, aliquid fuevit forsan attentatum, aut 
praesumptum, juxta canonicas et legitimas sanctiones, in favorem catholicse fidei, 
contra hsereticos et eorum fautores, salubriter adinventas.' Labb. and Coss. vol. xii. 
p. 99, &c. Par. 1672. 

The above decree is thus confirmed by the council of Trent :— 
' Si quis dixerit, sacram ecclesiam catholicam, non justis causis et rationibus, 
adductam fuisse, ut laicos atque etiam clericos non conficientes, sub panis tantum- 
modo specie communicaret ; aut in eo errasse ; anathema sit ! ! !' Sessio xxi. canon 
2._[Ed.1 



THE XXXIX ARTICLES. 



459 



.^«*ii'.vVV'VVv. •. . ART. 

; Kv\i a\ v\^s\V\ 'J>'\s /.wvva\ tjiW Vto\:.U\ XXXI. 

wv^A^^JCLE^ XX^IV^'^^^"^'^^ » - 

. p| the brie' O^latibn of Christ finished upon this Cross. 

Clje tj^fermcj of C!;v{6't once matrc, \^ tijat perfect 2^el3emption, ^rd^ 
pitiaaon, aiiU ^atiigfaction for all tlje ^insi of t!jc iu^ole OTorltr, 
botlj (©rigiual autf Actual : ^ntJ tljcre none otljtr ^atiilfaction 
for ^m, but tljat alone : OTljerefore m tlje ^amfece^ of pta^lj^esJ, 
in tX)z \s^\d) it lua^ commonly) j^aiU, tjat tlje JPrie^t iJitr offer 
Ci^ri^t for tlje jjiuck an^ tlje UeatJ, to Ijabe 3^emt^^lon of 3Pam 
antl ^uilt, i»ere bIasip!)emoii5 jTable^ antJ tfangerou^ iBecntig. 

It were a mere question of words to dispute concerning 

the term sacrifice^ to consider the extent of that word^ and 

the many various respects in which the eucharist may be 

called a sacrifice. In general, all acts of religious worship 

maybe Q,'dS\&^ sacrifices : because somewhat is in them ofiiered 

up to God : ^ Let my prayer be set forth before thee as Ps. cxli. 2. 

incense, and the lifting up of my hands as the evening 

sacrifice. The sacrifices of God are a broken spirit : a broken 

and a contrite heart, O God, thou wilt not despise/ These 

shew how largely this word was used in the -Old Testament : 

so in the New we are exhorted by him (that is, by Christ) ^ to ^ebr. xiii. 

offer the sacrifice of praise to God continually, that is, the 

fruit of our lips, giving thanks to his name/ A Christianas 

dedicating himself to the service of God, is also expressed by 

the same word of ^ presenting our bodies a living sacrifice, Rom.xii.i. 

holy and acceptable to God.' All acts of charity are also called 

^ sacrifices, an odour of a sweet smell, a sacrifice acceptable, Phil.iv. 18. 

well-pleasing to God.' So in this large sense we do not deny 

that the eucharist is a ' sacrifice of praise and thanksgiving :' 

and our church calls it so in the office of the Communion. In 

two other respects it may be also more strictly called a 

sacrifice. One is, because there is an oblation of bread and 

wine made in it, which being sanctified are consumed in an 

act of religion. To this many passages in the writings of the 

fathers do relate. This was the oblation made at the altar by 

the people : and though at first the Christians were reproached, 

as having a strange sort of religion, in which they had neither 

temples, altars, nor sacrifices, because they had not those 

things in so gross a manner as the heathens had ; yet both 

Clemens Romaims, Ignatius, and all the succeeding writers 

of the church, do frequently mention the oblations that they 

made : and in the ancient liturgies they did with particular 

prayers offbr the bread and wine to God, as the great Creator 

of all things ; those were called the gifts or offerings which 

were offered to God, in imitation of Abel, who offered the 



460 



AN EXPOSITION OF 



A R T. fruits of the earth in a sacrifice to God. Both Justin 
XXXI, Martyr^ Irenteus^ the Constitutions^ and all the ancient 
' liturgies^ have very express words relating to this. Another 
respect^ in which the eucharist is called a sacrifice, is, because 
it is a commemoration, and a representation to God of the 
sacrifice that Christ olfered for us on the cross : in which we 
claim to that, as to our expiation, and feast upon it, as our 
peace-offering, according to that ancient notion, that cove- 
nants were confirmed by a sacrifice^ and were concluded in a 
feast on the sacrifice. Upon these accounts we do not deny 
but that the eucharist may be well called a sacrifice: but still 
it is a commemorative sacrifice, and not propitiatory : that 
is, we do not distinguish the sacrifice from the sacrament ; 
as if the priest^s consecrating and. consuming the elements, 
were in an especial manner a sacrifice any other way, than as 
the communicating of others with him is one : nor do we 
think that the consecrating and consuming the elements is an 
act that does reconcile God to the quick and the dead we 
consider it only as a federal act of professing our belief in the 
death of Christ, and of renewing our baptismal covenant with 
him. The virtue or eifects of this are not general ; they are 
limited to those who go about this piece of worship sincerely 
and devoutly; they, and they only, are concerned in it, who 
go about it : and there is no special propitiation made by this 
service. It is only an act of devotion and obedience in those 
that ' eat and drink worthily ;^ and though in it they ought 
to pray for the whole body of the church, yet those their 
prayers do only prevail with God, as they are devout inter- 
cessions, but not by any peculiar virtue in this action. 

On the other hand, the doctrine of the church of Rome is, 
that the eucharist is the highest act of homage and honour 
that creatures can offer up to the Creator, as being an obla- 
tion of the Son to the Father; so that whosoever procures 
a mass to be said, procures a new piece of honour to be done 
to God, with which he is highly pleased ; and for the sake of 
which he will be reconciled to all that are concerned in 
the procuring such masses to be said; whether they be still on 
earth, or if they are now in purgatory: and that the priest, in 
offering and consuming this sacrifice, performs a true act of 
priesthood by reconciling sinners to God. Somewhat was 
already said of this on the head of purgatory. 

It seems very plain, by the institution, that our Saviour, as 
he blessed the sacrament, said, ^ Take, eat St. Paul calls it 
a ^ communion of the body and blood of the Lord ;^ and a 
^ partaking of the Lord^s table and he, through his whole 
discourse of it, speaks of it as an action of the church and of 
all Christians ; but does not so much as by a hint intimate 
any thing peculiar to the priest : so that all that the scripture 
has delivered to us concerning it, represents it as an action of 
the whole body, in which the i)riest has no special share but 



THE XXXIX ARTICLES. 



461 



that of officiating. In the Epistle to the Hebrews there is a ART. 
very long discoui'se concerning sacrifices and protests, in order ^^^i- 
to the explaining of Christ's being both priest and sacrifice. 
There a priest stands for a person called and consecrated to 
offer some living sacrifice, and to slay it^ and to make recon- 
ciliation of sinners to God, by the shedding, offering, or 
sprinkling, the blood of the sacrifice. This was the notion 
that the Jews had of a' priest ; and the apostle, designing to 
prove that the death of Christ was a true sacrifice, brings this 
for an argument, that there was to be another priesthood after 
the order of Melchisedec\ He begins the fifth chapter with 
settling thie notion of a priest, according to the Jewish ideas : 
and then he goes on to prove that Christ was such a priest, 
' called of God and consecrated.^ But in this sense he appro- Heb. v.io. 
priates the priesthood of the new dispensation singly to 
Christ, in opposition to the many priests of the Levitical law : 
^and they truly were many priests,^ because they were not ch. vii. 23, 
suffered to continue, by reason of death : but this man, 24. 
because he continueth erer^ bath . an unchangeable priest- 
hood.^ "'f^r 'vr ' 

It is clear from the whole thread of that discourse, that, in 
the strictest sense of the word, Christ himself is the only 
Priest under the gospel; and it is also no less evident that 
his death is the only sacrifice, in opposition to the many ob- 
lations that were under the Mosaical law, to take away sin; 
which appears Axry plain from these words, ^Who needeth ver. 27. 
not daily, as those high priests, to offer up sacrifice, first for 
his own sins, and then for the people ; for this he did once, 
when he offered up himself.^ He opposes that to the annual 
expiation made by the Jewish high priest, '^Christ entered in 
once to the holy place, having obtained redemption for us by 
his own blood :' and having laid do^m that general maxim, 
that ^without shedding of blood there was no remission,^ hcch.ix. 12. 
says,/ Christ was offered^once to bear the sins of many:^ he 22. ver. 28. 
puts a question to shew that all sacrifices were now to cease ; 
^ When the worshippers are once purged, then would not sa- ^eb. x.2. 
orifices cease to be offered ?' and he ends with this, as a full 
conclusion to that part of his discourse: ^ Every priest stands ver. 11,12. 
daily ministering and offering oftentimes the same sacrifices, 
which can never take away sin : but this man, after he had 
offered up one sacrifice for sins, for ever sat down on the right 
hand of God.^ Here are not general words, ambiguous 
expressions, or remote hints, but a thread of a full and clear 
discourse, to shew that, in the strict sense of the words, 
we have but one Priest, and likewise but one Sacrifice, under 
the gospel;* therefore how largely soever those words of 

* The Epistle to the Hebrews (ch. x. 14.) tells us, that ' Christ ought to be 
but once offered, because by that one offering he has fully satisfied for our sins, and 
has perfected for ever them that are sanctified. If therefore by that first offering he 
hath fully satisfied for our sins, then is there no more need of any offering for s/u * 



462 



AN EXPOSITION OF 



ART. priest or sacrifice may have been used ; yet, according to the 
true idea of a propitiatory sacrifice, and of a priest that re- 
conciles sinners to God, they cann6t be applied to any acts 
of our worship, or to any order of men upon earth. Nor can 
the value and virtue of any instituted act of religion be 
carried, by any inferences or reasonings, beyond that which 
is put in them by the institution : and therefore since the in- 
stitution of this sacrament has nothing in it that gives us this 
idea of it, we cannot set any such value upon it: and since 
the reconciling sinners to God, and the pardoning of sin, are 
free acts of his grace, it is therefore a high presumption 
in any man to imagine they can do this by any act- of theirs, 
without powers and warrants for it from scripture. Nor can 
this be pretended) to without assuming a most sacrilegious 
sort of power over the attributes of God: therefore all the 
virtue that can be in the sacrament is, that- we do therein 
gratefully commemorate the 5acri/?ce of Christ's death, and, 
by renewed acts of faith, present that to God as our sacrifice, 
in the memorial of it, which he himself has appointed: by so 
doing we renew our covenant with God, and share in the 
eifeets of that death which he suffered for us. All the ancient 
liturgies have this as a main part of the office, that being 
mindful of the death of Christy or commemorating it, they 
offered up the gifts. ■ 

This is the language of Justin Martyr, IrenfEus, Tertullian, 
Cyprian^ and of all the following writers. They do compare 
\h\& sacrifice to that of Melchisedec, who offered ^reat/ arid 
wine: and though the text imports only his giving bread 
and wifie to Abraham and his followers, yet they applied 
that generally to the oblation of bread and wine that was 
made on the altar : but this shews that they did not think of 
any sacrifice made by the offering up of Christ. It was the 
bread and the wine only which they thought the priests of 
the Christian rehgion did offer to God. And therefore it is 
remarkable, that when the fathers answer the reproach of the 



If by that first sacrifice Tie haih perfected for ever them that are sanctified, the mass 
certainly must be altogether needless to make any addition to that which is already 
pei'fect. In a word, if the sacrifices of the law were therefore repeated, as this 
Epistle tells us, because they were imperfect ; and had they been otherwise, they 
should have ceased to have been offered ; what can we conclude, but the church 
of Rome then, in every mass she offers, does violence to the cross of Christ ; and in 
more than one sense, crucifies to hersef the Lord of gloi-y ? 

' Lastly, the council of Trent declares, that because there is a new and proper 
sacrifice to be offered, it was necessary that our Saviour Christ should institute a 
new and proper priesthood to offer it. And so they say he did, after the order of 
Me/c/iiser/ee, in opposition to that after the ord<:r of Aaron under the law. Now 
certainly nothing can be more contrary to this Epistle than such an assertion : 
both whose description of this priesthood shews it can agree only to our blessed 
Lord ; and which indeed in express terms declares it to be peculiar to him. It 
calls it an unchangeable priesthood, that passes not to any other, as that of Aaron did 
from father to son, but continues in him only, because that he also himself continues 
for evermore.' Wake. — [Ed.] 



THE XXXIX ARTICLES. 



4G3 



heathens, who charged them with irrehgion and impiety for A R T. 
having i\o sacrifices among them, they never answer it by ^XX I. 
saying, that they offered up a sacrifice of inestimable value 
to God; which must have been the first answer that could 
have occurred to a man possessed Avith the ideas of the 
church' of Rome. 0n the contrary, Jui^tin Martyr, in his Apol. 2. 
Apology, says, Th£y had no other smrifices bid prayers 
and praises: and in his Dialogue with Trypho he confesses, 
that Christians offer to God oblations, according to Malachi^s 
prophecy, ivhen they celebrate the eucharist, in which they 
commemorate the Lor d^s death. Both Athenagoras and Mi- Leg. pro 
nutius Fehx justify the Christians for having no other sacri- ^j^^^^** . 
fices but pure hearts, clean consciences, and a steadfast faith, octav. 
Origen and Tertullian refute the same objection in the same lib. viii. 
manner: they set fche prayers of Christians in opposition to^^"*^^'- 
all the sacrifices that were among the heathens. Clemens of ^ert. Apol. 
Alexandria and Arnobius write in the same strain ; and they c. 30. 
do all make use of one topic, to justify their offering .. 
sacrifices, that God, who made all things, and to whom all Amob.^" 
things do belong, needs nothing from his creatures. To mul- lib. vii. 
tiply no more quotations on this head, Julian in his time 
objected the same thing to the Christians, which shews that 
there was then no idea of a sacrifice among them ; otherwise 
he, who knew their doctrine and rites, had either not de- 
nied so positively as he did their having sacrifices ; or at least 
he had shewed how improperly the eucharist was called one. 
When Cyril of Alexandria, towards the middle of the fifth Cyr. Al. 
century, came to answer this, he insists only upon the inward J.^^jjj'^jyj 
and spiritual sacrifices that were offered by Christians ; which 
were suitable to a pure and spiritual essence, such as the 
Divinity was, to take pleasure in ; and therefore he sets that 
in opposition to the sacrifices of beasts, birds, and of all 
other things whatsoever: nor does he so much as mention, 
even in a hint, the sacrifice of the eucharist; which shews 
that he did not consider thatuBs a sacrifices that .was pro- 
pitiatory. 

These things do so plainly set before us the ideas that the 
first ages had of this sacrament, that to one who considers 
them duly, they do not leave so much as a doubt in this 
matter. All that they may say in homilies, or treatises of 
piety, concerning the pure-offering that, according to Mala- 
chi, all Christians offered to God in the sacrament, concern- 
ing the sacrifice, and the unbloody sacrifice of Christians, 
must be understood to relate to the prayers and thanksgiv- 
ings that accompanied it, to the commemoration that was 
made in it of the sacrifice offered once upon the cross, and 
finally to the oblation of the bread and wine, which they so 
often compare both to AbeFs sacrifice, and to Melchisedec's 
offering bread and wine. 



464 



ART. It were easy to enlarge further on this head, and from all 
XXXI. rituals of the ancients to shew, that they had none of 



those ideas that are now in the Roman church. They had 
but one altar in a church, and probably but one in a city i 
they had but one communion in a day at that altar : so faF 
were they from the many altars in every church, and the 
many masses at every altar, that are now in the Roman 
church. They did not know what solitary masses were, with- 
out a communion. AH the liturgies and all the writings of 
the ancients are as express in this matter as is possible* 
The whole constitution of their worship and discipline shews 
it. Their worship concluded always with the eucharist : such 
as were not capable of it, as the catechumens, and those who 
were doing public penance for their sins, assisted at the more 
general parts of the worship; and so much of it was called 
their mass, because they were dismissed at the conclusion 
of it. When that was done, then the faithful stayed, and did 
partake of the eucharist ; and at the conclusion of it they 
were likewise dismissed ; from whence it came to be called 
the mass of the faithful. The great rigour of penance was 
thought to consist chiefly in this, that such penitents might 
not stay with the faithful to communicate. And though this 
seems to be a practice begun in the third century, yet, both 
from Justin Martyr and TertuUian, it is evident that all the 
Can. 9. faithful did constantly communicate. There is a canon, 
Apost. among those which go under the name of the Apostles', 
against such as came and assisted in the other parts of the 
Con. An- service, and did not partake of the eucharist; the same 
34]^cf ^^^"S "^^s decreed by the council of Antioch ; and it appears 
Const! "a- Constitutions, that a deacon was appointed to see that 

post. 1. viii. no man should go out, and a subdeacon was to see that no 
Homes' in ^^"^^^ should go out, during the oblation. The fathers do 
Ep. ad frequently allude to the word communion, to shew that the 
Eph. cap.i. sacrament was to be common to all. It is true, in St. Chry- 
sostom's time, the zeal that the Christians of the former ages 
had to communicate often, began to slacken ; so that they 
had thin communions, and few communicants : against which 
that father raises himself with his pathetic eloquence, in words 
which do shew that he had no notion of solitary masses, or of 
the lawfulness of them: and it is very evident, that the neg- 
lect of the sacrament in those who came not to it, and the 
profanation of it by those who came unworthily, both which 
grew very scandalous at that time, set that holy and zealous 
bishop to many eloquent and sublime strains concerning it, 
which cannot be understood, without making those abate- 
ments that are due to a copious and Asiatic style, when much 
inflamed by devotion. 

In the succeeding ages we find great care was taken to 
suff'er none that did not communicate to stay in the church. 



THE XXXIX ARTICLES. }G:> 

ART. 

and to see the mysteries. There is a rubric for this in the 

office mentioned by Gregory the Great. The writers of the D,aio<r. 

ninth centur\^ go on in the same strain. It was decreed by Conc.°l\io- 

the comicil of Mentz, in the end of Charles the Great^s reign^ |^"^- 

that no priest should say mass alone ; for how could he say, 

^ The Lord be with you/ or, ^ Lift up your hearts,^ if there 

was no other person there besides himself? This shews 

that the practice of solitary masses was then begun, but that 

it was disliked. Walafridus Strabus says, that to a lawful Walaf. 

mass it was necessary" that there should be a priest, tosrether ^^^l^- 

, u. re J 1. • J. Rebus Ee- 

with one to answer, one to otter, and one to communicate, de?. c. 22. 
And the author of Micrologus, who is believed to have 
writ about the end of the eleventh century, does condemn 
solitar}^ communions, as contrary both to the practice of 
the ancients, and to the several parts of the office : so that 
till the twelfth century it was never allowed of in the^Iioman 
church; as to this day it is not practisec^ m,,^ny otlter com- 
munion. ; ; ll<VUU\^>Ui 

But then with the doctrine of purgatory transubstan- 
tiation mixt together, the saying of ma^^3=-fov. .ether persons, 
whether alive or dead, grew to be c^f^sidered as a very meri- 
torious thing, and of great efficacy ; thereupon great .endow- 
ments were made, and it became a .trade^ Classes >yere 
sold, and a small piece of money bepar^p^ ^lieir price ; so 
that a profane sort of simoiiy was sft; up,-;and the hpljest 
of all the institutions of . the i Christiaii,r religion , was ex- 
posed to sale. Therefore T^^3(<-irt cutting, off all thi^, a,nd,,Ln 
bringing the sacrament to be, according to its first insti£i- 
tion, a communion, have followed the words of 9ur Saviour, 
and the constant.. practicQvQfu4JbLe; wj^le chy^^ the first 

ten centuries. . -u.ijdui J 1 . ; ' 

FOi-i jJo &l!J i;j>i lU',i 

So far all the articles, that i^elate to this sacrament have 
been considered. The variety of the matter, and the import- 
tant controversies that have arisen out of it, has made it 
necessary to enlarge with some copiousness upon the several 
branches of it. Next to the infallibility of the church, this is 
the dearest piece of the doctrine of the church of Rome ; and 
is that in which both priests and people are better instructed 
than in any other point whatsoever ; and therefore this ought 
to be studied on our side mth a care proportioned to the 
importance of it: that so we may govern both ourselves and 
our people aright in a matter of such consequence, avoiding 
with great caution the extremes on both hands, both of ex- 
cessive superstition on the one hand, and of profane neglect 
on the other. For the nature of man is so moulded, that it 
is not easy to avoid the one without falling into the ether. 
We are now visibly under the extreme of nef^lect. and 

2 H 



466 



AN EXPOSITION OF 



ART. therefore we ought to study by all means possible to in- 
spire our people with a just respect for this holy institution, 
and to animate them to desire earnestly to partake often of 
it; and, in order to that, to prepare themselves seriously 
to set about it with the reverence and devotion, and with 
those holy purposes and solemn vows, that ought to accom- 
pany it. 

^ ; tfo^ (jd tt^rtmmmti'i ion ym .mQ-im^ tfim tSai&ih^ ^Istqfoj&ifil 
■'tf^f^l imil nifiJijtJB ni ;io ^uTiM aJ^Jtis to sJBjfeBI ip doa oi n^h 

$Btfjir J}B(f^ m{li fen .yrnhn^i^ nolo mp th uriBm a$ jnlH nnil 

fefe3mJiro€S> oJ niM ol intBS ajt 

^BYf ,3't?y\a*^^sVI biOY/ sdJ oi sIoiiiA aid^ lo bolisq i^th jehT 
919W YsrfT .Qmii 8^bw/7b3 gnli rii badeildnq gsw tj?fft Ik 
sd Ovi sDfiSislxri sdi ilal bnB ^(loiJisggs edi cmob y^al oi dnairroo 
4r lo .too ©giifi Y^^^'^^^^^ ^-sff^ 9on9np98noo ^ an Qham 
bsprrfTF^'-^ '^[3X9^98 9iom asw i^di inioq 9no Ynfi^orr ejjwsigdT 
Lei lol ^ aldi imdi noiiBm'iol9iI 9if^ lo amii adi is 

biJi. . BTsIuoag diodlo 89vil aixjloaaib bnjs ^^mioB'^q 

9dt lo 3rfj ignlsgB bhoY/ 9d^ b99ibn[9fq donm y^9Y 

Os 10 iicit aj _ ad* g.6 b9i9blgno9 asw doldY/ ^YS'^'^^^ nBmoH 
©di lo sgfimsm sd^ ^bujsd ladio adi no «oe ^ aigbtoaib 98odi 
,?5W0Y jiaifiJ bfid odw 89X98 diod lo aaodi lo oak has tT%'^^^^ 
iBrf^ ^ano8i9q bsinsasiqat 6i9w \9dT ,9an9llo iserg sYs-g 
asvfogmadl baglnhni iadJ tod .gaidaqqs liadl •raig^m ion bluoo 
adi lo elshnsDS adi as ^^ndT .8:tg9i9*ni hns 89iirg.89fq kniso nf 
I medi moil doom MioYf edi h9:isadd£ bsd "^{^lab b9infimnu 
■ ■ > molai adi lo ?8om lo agBinsm adi 08 

H 5dilo hnjs cnad-tlo dtod laio^ij^da 
V ^mglniiiadd lo 
bm> fbliov/ adt 
^i>:oi88Bq hnn ^aniao 
gsonjsifiaqqjs adT 
niiasl brie ^snidotow ni alif 
huB ^d?,ciS'c, lo 89*rn8S9lq 
:li oAhiB bib ^pbh iddio 
, q ^ii^iv4>4^'5 x9Taog ^.aoixaxTpaznoo Ifi todw iMi 
■■y brrs .sldsiToqquf^ aioiii donm biqw aaadl 
aaonanpasnoo Hi adi rmdi ^bamiolai 

■'n'Tf-^--' T'^ialo 9f[J lo ffr;^c^^rn:-j 

(I 89ob il '^rsl adi oi noltob 

■iTuqadioJ 
msm isdi 
lo wbL 
irhood 
. adi !T9y9- buA 



m oi oldkzoq aiussm- lis \6 jbis^B oi dd-guo d'loiaiedi aJi^V' 
tioiijjirigm ^lod M) Jo\ iooqaoi igjjj^ b rfiiw sfqosq ino aiiqa xx^cfi. 

moDOfi oi ifl^jjo Of the Marriage of PriestSi^oqinq ylorl aaodi 

J3id)op!S, ^iic£{t£j, antr IBeaconig, are not fommant(tt< bp (^oti^ie; iCalu 
ti'tjtr to bob ti)e iEsJtatc of i^tusle Eife, or to absltam from Plar? 
nage : Cj^erefore it labjful for tijem, as; bell asi for all €i)xi<if 
ttan Plen, to marrp at tl^eir oion Iri^cretion, a5 tljey igjall jutlge 
tf)t iSame to iSerbe better to (^oUlmeiS*;. 

The first period of this Article to the word Thereforey was 
all that was pubhshed in king Edward's time. They were 
content to lay down the assertion, and left the inference to be 
made as a consequence that did naturally arise out of it. 
There was not any one point that was more severely examined 
at the time of the Reformation than this : for as the irregular 
practices and dissolute lives of both seculars and regulars had 
very much prejudiced the world against the ceHbate of the 
Roman clergy, which was considered as the occasion of all 
those disorders ; so, on the other hand, the marriage of the 
clergy, and also of those of both sexes who had taken vows, 
gave great offence. They were represented as persons that 
could not master their appetites, but that indulged themselves 
in carnal pleasures and interests. Thus, as the scandals of the 
unmarried clergy had alienated the world much from them ; 
so the marriage of most of the reformers was urged as an ill 
character both of them and of the Reformation ; as a doctrine 
of libertinism, that made the clergy look too like the refet of 
the world, and involved them in the common pleasures, con- 
cerns, and passions, of human life. 

The appearances of an austerity of habit, of a severity of 
life in watching and fasting, and of avoiding the common 
pleasures of sense, and the delights of life, that were on the 
other side, did strike the world, and inclined many to think, 
that what ill consequences soever celibate produced, yet that 
these were much more supportable, and more easy to be 
reformed, than the ill consequences of an unrestrained per- 
mission of the clergy to marry. 

In treating this matter, we must first consider celibate with 
relation to the laws of Christ and the gospel ; and then with 
relation to the laws of the church. It does not seem contrary 
to the purity of the worship of God, or of divine performances, 
that married persons should officiate in them ; since, by the 
law of Moses, priests not only might marry, but the priest- 
hood was tied to descend as an inheritance in a certain family. 
And even the high priest, who was to perform the great 
function of the annual atonement that was made for the sins 

2 H 2 



468 



AN EXPOSITI25^0F.^ 



f of the whole Jewish nation, was to marry, and be derived to 
^ his descendants that sacred office. If there was so much as a 
i i remote unsuitableness between a married state and sacerdotal 
i i ,i performances, we cannot imagine that God would by a law tie '^^ 
the priesthood to a family, which by consequence laid an 
obligation on the priests to marry. When Christ chose his'd 
o:^.mx.c twelve apostles, some of them were married men; we are 
ojiv oio g^j.g^ least, that St. Peter was ; so that he made no distinc- ' 
tiony and gave no preference to the unmarried: our Saviotir- 
did no where charge them to forsake their wives; nor did he 
at all represent celibate as necessary to the ^ kingdom of ' 
lieaven,^ or the dispensation of the gospel.* He speaks indeed 

* ' In tbe Bible^ we read that the priests, under the old dispensation, were mar- ; 
ried, and that the hig-h priesthood passed from father to son. And in the New . 
Testament, that St. Peter, whom you call your first pope (although you are not 
his successor in either doctrine or practice), was a married man ; " And when 
Jesus was come into Peter's house, he saw his wife's mother laid, and sick of a 
fever," Matt. viii. 14 ; and Paul says, " Have we no power to lead about a sister, 
a wife, as well as other apostles, and as the brethren of the Lord, and Cephas?" 

vj ,,u3i, >! I -^^ J y.Q^^ moreover, in the directions given by God to the bishops and 
deacons, these words, " A bishop must then be blameless, the husband of ONEi' 
WIFE, one that ruleth well his own house, having his children in subjection, with 
all gravity; for if a man know not how to rule his own house, how shall he take 
care of the church of God?" " Let the deacons be the husbands of one wrFE, 
ruling their children, and their own houses well." 1 Tim. iii. 2, 4, 5, 12. And in, 

M .sov- the Epistle to the Hebrews (xiii. 4.) it is written, "Marriage is honourable in all,- 
and the bed undefiled ; but whoremongers and adulterers God will judge." But 
the word of God informs us, " that in the latter times, some shall depart from the 
faith," (a.s your church did, when it commanded pope Pius the IVth's creed to be 
taught and believed, as necessary to salvation,) that one of the marks by which 
this apostacy shall be known, is "forbidding to marry." 1 Tim. iv. 1, 3. Whether, 
then, this mark of the apostacy better fits us, who do maiTy, or you, who forbid 
and condemn marriage of the clergy, and have besides set up monasteries and nun- 
i^ei-ies, let the people judge. 

But I must give another instance of your church's contempt of God's word : — - 
In 1 Tim. iii. 2, it is said, "a bishop then must be blameless, the husband of one 
wife;" and in Heb. xiii. 4. " Marriage is honourable in all." Why does the 
church of Rome condemn marriage of the clergy ? Her own council of Lateran 
must speak — " Because it is unvv orthy that they should be the slaves of cham- 
bering and uNCLEANNEss." I shall now give the decree in the words of Lateran, 
" Decernimus etiamut ii, qui in ordinc subdiaconatus, et supra, uxores duxerint, aut 
concubinas habuerint, officio, atq. ecclesiastico beneficio careant. Cum enim ipsi 
templum Dei, vasa Domini, sacrarium Spiritus Sancti debeant esse, et dici : 
iNDiGNUM est, eos cuBiLiBus, ct iMMUNDiTiis dcservirc." 2 Concil Lat. Labbei, 
vol. X. p. 1003, canon vi. Here then is Lateran against the word of God, and yet, 
according to you, the council of Lateran was infallible ! ! ! Before this council, 
pope Gregory the Vllth had condemned the marriage of the clergy, in the 13th 
can. of the first Roman council, in a. d. 1074. (Labbei concil: vol. x, p. 326 — 
328.) Gregory had, besides, assembled councils or synods in other places, to 
condemn the marriage of the clergy. The English clergy opposed this in a very 
determined manner ; and, when Gregory's decree was published in Germany, the 
clergy appealed to the word of God, and charged the pope with contradicting 
St. Paul. But Gregory was more than a match for them ; and he, who deprived 
kings of their kingdoms, and trampled i-oyalty under foot, easily prevailed, after 
some time, against the clergy. 

' The public must now have a specimen of your church's consistency, contradic- 
tion, and extraordinary doctrine, on the subject of matrimony. The church of 
Rome calls marriage a sacrament ! ! (one of the five new sacraments she herself 
made ;) and, according to the Trent doctrine, the sacraments confer grace, jmifying 
grace. Luther maintained that " the sacraments of the new law do not confer 
justifying grace upon those who do not place a bar in the way." This is the first 



bovmb qd l.« 

of som^ taat prduglit themselves to the state of eunuchs for A RiT.. , 

the sake of the gospel but in that he left all men at full XXXil. / 

liberty^ by saying, ^ Let him receive it that is able to receive Matt. x\x. ^ 

it;' so that in this every man must judge of himself by what i,0, 11, 12. 

he finds himself to be. That is equally recommended to al^i^ 

ranks of meu;, as they can bear it. St. Paul does affirm^ that'n 

' marriage is honourable in all :' and to avoid uncleanness, he Heb.xiii.4. 

sayS;, ' It is better to marry than to burn and so gives it as 1 v"- 

a rule^ that ^ every man should have his own wife.' Among, t ' 

all the rules or qualifications of bishops or priests, that are 

given in the New Testament^ particularly in the Epistles to 

Timothy and Titus, there is not a word of the celibate of the l Tlm.iii. 

clergy, but plain intimations to the contrary, that they were ^' ^' ^' 

and might be married. That of ^ the husband of one wife' is 

repeated in different places : mention is also made of the wives 

and children of the clergy, rules being given concerning them ; 

and not a word is so much as insinuated, importing, that this 

was only tolerated in the beginnings of Christianity, but that 

it was afterwards to cease. On the contrary, the ^ forbidding l Tim, iv. 

to marry' is given as a character of the apostacy of the later 

times. We find Aquila, when he went about preaching the 

gospel, was not only married to Priscilla, but that he carried 

her about with him: not to insist on that privilege that St. 

Paul thought he might have claimed^ of ^ carrying about v^^th l 

him a sister and a wife, as well as the other apostles.' And 

thus the first point seems to be fully cleared, that by no law 

of God the clergy are debarred from marriage. There is not 

one word in the whole scriptures that does so much as hint at 

it ; whereas there is a great deal to the contrary. 

Marriage being then one of the rights of human nature, to 
which so many reasons of different sorts may carry both a 
wise and a good man, and there being no positive precept in 
the gospel that forbids it to the clergy ; the next question is. 
Whether it is in the power of the church to make a perpetual 
law, restraining the clergy from marriage ? It is certain that 
no age of the church can make a law to bind succeeding ages ; 
for whatsoever power the church has, she is always in posses- 
sion of it ; and every age has as much power as any of the 
former ages had. Therefore if ony one age should by a law 
enjoin celibate to the clergy, any succeeding age may repeal 
and alter that law. For ever since the inspiration that cdn- 
jducted the apostles has ceased, every age of the church may 
%iake or change laws in all matters that are within their 
authority. So it seems very clear, that the church can make 
no perpetual law upon this subject. 

of the plurim<B Lutheri hdreses" condemned by pope Leo X. (Labb. and Coss. 
vol. xiv. 5 Cone. Lat. p. 392.) Marriage then, according to your doctrine, confers 
justifying grace. But what would this sacrament confer on you ? Pollution and 
damnation ! ! ! This is most excellent ! " Doth a fountain send forth at the same place 
sweet water and bitter?" James iii. 11.' Page's hellers to a RomiskPriest. — [Ed.] 



^%W^l:xposiTioN <m 



Jiiil'^. ^ ' In the nett place it ihay be justly doubted^ whether the 
2^ X11. church can make a law that shall restrain all the clergy in any 
of those natural rights in which Christ has left them free. 
The adding a law upon this head to the laws of Christy seems 
to assume an authority that he has not given the church. It 
looks like a pretending to a strain of purity beyond the rules 
set us in the gospel : and is plainly the laying a yoke upon us^ 
which must be thought tyrannical^ since the Author of this 
religion, who knew best what human nature is capable of, and 
what it may well bear, has not thought fit to lay it on those 
whom he sent upon a commission that required a much 
. , greater elevation of soul, and more freedom from the entan- 
glements of worldly or domestic concerns, than can be pre- 
tended to be necessary for the standing and settled offices in 
the church. Therefore we conclude, that it were a great 
abuse of church power, and a high act of tyranny, for ai^ 
church, or any age of the church, to bar men from the 
services in the church, because they either are married, or 
intend to keep themselves free to marry, or not, as they 
please: this does indeed bring the body of the clergy more 
into a combination among themselves ; it does take them in 
a great measure off from having separated interests of their 
own; it takes them out of the civil society, in which they 
have less concern, when they give no pledges to it. And so 
in ages in which the papacy intended to engage the whole 
priesthood into its interests against the civil powers, as the 
immunity and exemptions of the clergy made them safe in 
their own persons, so it was necessary to free them from any 
such incumbrances or appendages by which they might be in 
the power or at the mercy of secular princes. This, joined 
with the belief of their making God with a few words, by the 
virtue of their character, and of their forgiving sin, was like 
armour of proof, by which they were invulnerable, and by 
consequence capable of imdertaking any thing that might be 
committed to them. But this may well recommend such a 
rule to a crafty and designing body of men, in which it is not 
to be denied, that there is a deep and refined policy ; yet we 
' have not so learned Christ,^ nor to ^ handle the word of 
God,^ or the authority that he has trusted to us, deceitfully: 

As for the consequences of such laws, inconveniences • are 
on both hands : as long as men are corrupt themselves, 
so long they will abuse all the liberties of human nature. If 
not only common lewdness in all the kinds of it, but even 
brutal and unnatural lusts, have been the visible consequences 
of the strict law of celibate ; and if this appears so evident in 
history that it cannot be denied ; we think it better to trust 
human nature Avith the lawful use of that in which God has 
not restrained it, than to venture on that which has given 
occasion to abominations that cannot be mentioned without 
horror. As for the temptation to covetousness, w^ think it is 



THE XXXIX ARTICLES. 



neither so great, nor so unavoidable, upon the one hand, as A R T. 
those monstrous ones are on the other. It is more reasonable ^^^^^ 
to expect divine assistances to preserve men from temptations, 
■when they are using those liberties which God has left free to 
jthem, than when, by pretending to a purity greater than that 
which he has commanded, they throw themselves into many 
snares. It is also very e\ident, that covetousness is an effect 
of men's tempers, rather than of their marriage ; since the 
•instances of a ravenous covetousness, and of a restless ambi- 
tion, in behalf of men's kindred and famiHes^ hath appeared 
as often and as scandalously among the unmarried as among 
X)£iQ, married clergy. 

From these general considerations concerning the power 
that the church has to make either a perpetual or an universal 
law in a thing of this kind; I shall, in the next place, consider, 
,in short, what the church has done in this matter. In the 
first ages of Christianity, Basihdes and Saturninus, and after 
them, both Montanus and Novatus, and the sect of the En- 
cratites, condemned marriage as a state of libertinism that was 
unbecoming the purity required of Christians. Against those 
we find the fathers asserted the lawfulness of marriage to all 
Christians, without making a difference between the clergy 
and the laity. It is true, the appearances that were in Mon- 
tanus and his followers seem to have engaged the Christians 
of that age to strain beyond them in those things that gave 
them their reputation : many of Tertullian's "WTitings, that 
critics do now see were writ after he was a Montanist, which 
seems not to have been observed in that age, carry the matter 
of celibate so high, that it is no wonder, if, considering the 
reputation that he had, a bias was given by these to the fol- 
lo-vving ages in favour of celibate : yet it seemed to give great 
and just prejudices against the Christian religion, if such as 
had come into the service of the church should have forsaken 
their wives. It is visible how much scandal this might have 
given, and what matter of reproach it would have furnished 
their enemies with, if they could have charged them with this, 
that men, to get rid of their wives, and the care of their fami- 
lies, w^ent into orders ; that so, under a pretence of a higher 
degree of sanctity, they might abandon their famihes. There- 
fore great care was taken to prevent this. They were so far 
from requiring priests to forsake their wives, that such as did 
it, upon their entering into orders, were severely condemned 
by the canons that go under the name of the Apostles. They 
were also condemned by the council of Gangra in the fourth 
century, and by that of Trullo in the seventh age. There are 
some instances brought of bishops and priests, who are sup- 
posed to have married after they were ordained ; but as there 
are only few of those, so perhaps they are not well proved. 
It must be acknowledged, that the general practice was, that 
men once in orders did not marry : but many bishops in the 



472 



AN EXPOSITION OF 



AMV best ages lived still with their wives. So did the fathers both 
of Gregory Nazianzen and of St. Basil. And among the 
works of Hilary of Poictiers, there is a letter writ by him in. 
exile to his daughter Abra^ in which he refers her to her 
mother^s instruction in those things which she^ by reason of 
her age^ did not then understand ; which shews that she was^ 
then very young, and so was probably born after he was" 
bishop. _ ■j'.j 

Socr. Hist. Some proposed in the council of Nice, that the clergy shomd 
Ecd.lib. 1. depart from their wives ; but Paphnutius, though himself un- 
married, opposed this, as the laying an unreasonably heavy 
yoke upon them. Heliodorus, a bishop, the author of the 
first of those love-fables that are now known by the name of 
Romances, being upon that account accused of too much 
levity, did, in order to the clearing himself of that imputation, 
move that clergymen should be obliged to live from their wives. 
Which the historian says they were not tied to before ; for till 
then bishops lived with their wives. So that in those days 
the living in a married state was not thought unbecoming the 
purity of the sacred functions. A single marriage was never 
objected in bar to a man^s being made bishop or priest. They 
did not indeed admit a man to orders that h^Qn twice mar- 
ried ; but even for this there was a distinction: if a man had 
been once married before his baptism, and was once married 
after his baptism, that was reckoned only a single marriage ; 
for what had been done when in heathenism went for nothing. 
And Jerome, speakmg of bishops who had been twice married, 
but by this nicety were reckoned to be the husbcmds of one 
ivife, says, ^the number of those of this sort in that time could 
not be reckoned; and that more such bishops might be found, 
than were at the council of Arimini.^ Canons grew to be 
"frequently made against the marriage of those in holy orders; 
but these were positive laws made chiefly in the Roman and 
African s^^nods; and since those canons were so often re- 
newed, we may from thence conclude that they were not well 
kept. When Synesius was ordained priest, he tells in an 
Epistle of his, that he declared openly, that he would not hve 
secretly with his wife, as some did ; but that he would dwell 
publicly with her, and wished that he might have many chil- 
dren by her. In the eastern church the priests are usually 
married before they are ordained, and continue afterwards to 
live with their wives, and to have children by them, without 
either censure or trouble. In the western church we find 
mention made, both in the Galhcan and Spanish synods, of 
the wives both of bishops and priests; and they are called 
episcopce and presbyterce. In the Saxon times the clergy in 
most of the cathedrals of England were openly married : and 
when Dunstan, w^ho had engaged king Edgar to favour the 
monks, in opposition to the married clergy, pressed them to 
forsake their wives, they refused tp. do it,, and so,, wpr^ ^M?}^^ 



THi3 X^X'IX ARTICLES. 



473 



o'ulS^of 'ffieiFteAefiCes, and moiiks came in their places. Nor ART. 
was the celibate generally imposed on all the clergy before ^^'^^^^ 
Grregory the Seveiith's time, in the end of the eleventh cen- 
tury. He had great designs for subjecting all temporal 
princes to the papacy ; and, in order to that, he intended to 
bring the clergy into an entire dependance upon himself ; and 
to separate them wholly from all other interests but those of 
tlie ecclesiastical authority : and that he might load the mar- 
ried clergy with an odious name, he called them all Nico- .JaiH.ioog 
laitans; though the accounts that the ancients give us of that ' ^ 
sect say nothing that related to this matter : but a name of 
an ill sound goes a great way in an ignorant age. The writers 
that lived near that time condemned this severity against the 
married clergy, as a new and a rash thing, and contrary to the 
mind of the holy fathers ; and they tax his rigour in turning 
them all out. Yet Lanfranc among us did not impose the 
cehbate generally on all the clergy, but only on those that 
lived at cathedrals and in towns ; he connived at those who 
served in callages. Anselm carried it further, and imposed it 
on all the clergy without exception : yet he himself laments 
that unnatural lusts were become then both common and 
public; of which Petrus Damiani made great complaints in 
Gregory the Sevenths time. Bernard, in a sermon preached 
to the clergy of France^ says it was common in his time, and 
then even bishops with bishops lived in it. The observation 
that abbot Panormitan made of the progress of that horrid 
sin, led him to wish that it might be left free to the clergy to 
marry as they 23leased. Pius the Second said^ that there might 
have been good reasons for imposing the celibate on the clergy ; 
but he believed there were far better reasons for leaving them 
to their liberty. As a remedy to these more enormous crimes_, 
dispensations for concubinate became so common_, that, in- 
stead of giving scandal by them, they were rather considered 
as the characters of modesty and temperance ; in such concu- 
binary priests the world judged themselves safe from practices 
on their own families. 

When we consider those effects that followed on the im- 
posing the celibate on the clergy, we cannot but look on them 
as much greater evils than those that can follow on the leav- 
ing it free to them to marry. It is not to be denied but that, 
on the other hand, the effects of a freedom to marry may be 
likewise bad : that state does naturally involve men in the 
cares of life, in domestic concerns, and it brings with it 
temptations both to luxury and covetousness. It carries with 
it too great a disposition to heap up wealth, and to raise fami- 
lies ; and, in a word, it makes the clergy both look too Hke, 
and live too like, the rest of the world. But when things of 
this kind are duly balanced, ill effects will appear on both 
hands : those arise out of the general corruption of human na- 
ture, which does so spread itself, that it w\\\ corrupt us in the 



474 



^mS! EXPOSITION OF 



A RT. most innocent^ and in the most necessary practices. There 
are excesses committed in eatings drinking, and sleeping. Our 
depraved inchnations will insinuate themselves into us in our 
best actions : even the public worship of God and all devotion 
receive a taint from them. But we must not take away those 
liberties in which God has left human nature free, and engage 
men to rules and methods that put a violence upon mankind : 
this is the less excusable, when we see, in fact, what the conf 
sequences of such restraints have been for many ages. ■ At 

Yet after all, though they who ^ marry, do Avell;^ yet those 
Svho marry not, do l^etter,^ provided they live chaste, and do 
not burn. That man, who subdues his body by fasting and 
prayer, by labour and study, and that separates himself from 
Actsvi. 4. the concerns of a family, that ^he may give himself wholly 
to the ministry of the word, and to prayer,^ that lives at a 
distance from the levities of the world, and in a course of 
native modesty and unaffected severity, is certainly a burning 
and shining light : he is above the world, free from cares and 
designs, from aspirings, and all those restless projects which 
have so long given the world so much scandal: and there- 
fore those, who allow themselves the liberty of marriage, 
according to the laws of God and the church, are indeed en.^ 
gaged in a state of many temtptations, to which if they gme 
way, they lay themselves open to many censures, and the^ 
bring a scandal on the Reformation for allowing them this 
liberty, if they abuse it. 

It remains only to consider how far this matter is altered 
by vows ; how far it is lawful to make them ; and how far 
they bind when they are made. It seems very unreasonable 
and tyrannical to put vows on any, in matters in which it 
may not be in their power to keep them without sin. No 
vows ought to be made, but in things that are either abso- 
lutely in our power, or in things in which we may procure to 
ourselves those assistances that may enable us to perform 
them. We have a federal right to the promises that Christ 
has made us, of inward assistances to enable us to perform 
those conditions that he has laid on us ; and therefore we 
may vow to observe them, because we may do that which 
may procure us aids sufficient for the execution of them. 
But if men will take up resolutions, that are not within those 
necessary conditions, they have no reason to promise them- 
selves such assistances : and if they are not so absolutely 
masters of themselves, as to be able to stand to them without 
those helps, and yet are not sure that they shall be given 
them, then they ought to make no vow in a matter which 
they cannot keep by their own natural strength, and in which 
they have not any promise in the gospel that assures them of 
divine assistances to enable them to keep it. This is, there- 
fore, a tempting of God, when men pretend to serve him by 
assuming a stricter course of life than either he has com- 



THE XXXIX ARTICLES. 



475 



raanded, or they are able to go through with. And it may A R T. 
pro\^e a great snare to them, when by such rash vows they 
are engaged into such a state of hfe, in which they Uve in 
constant temptations to sin, without either command or pro- 
mise, on which they can rest as to the execution of them. 

This is to ' lead themselves into temptation,^ in opposition 
to that which our Saviour has made a petition of that prayer 
which he himself has taught us. Out of this, great distrac- 
tions of mind, and a variety of diflPerent temj^tations, may, 
and probably will, arise ; and that the rather, because the 
vow is made ; there being somewhat in our natures that will 
always struggle the harder because they are restrained. It is 
certain that every man, who dedicates himself to the service 
of God, ought to try if he can dedicate himself so entirely to a- i.-oi a 
it, as to live out of all the concerns and entanglements of life. 
If he can maintain his purity in it, he will be enabled thereby 
to labour the more effectually, and may expect both the 
greater success here, and a fuller reward hereafter. But be*' 
cause both his temper and his circumstances may so change, 
that what is an advantage to him in one part of his life may 
be a snare and an encumbrance to him in another part of it, 
he ought therefore to keep this matter still in his own power, 
and to continue in that liberty, in which God has left him 
ftee, that so he may do as he shall find it to be most expe- 
dient for himself, and for the work of the gospel. 

Therefore it is to be concluded, that it is unlawful either to 
impose or to make such vows. And, supposing that any have 
been engaged in them, more, perhaps, out of the importunity 
or authority of others, than their own choice then though it 
is certainly a character of a man that shall dwell in God^s holy 
hill, that though ^he swears to his own hurt, yet he changes P6ai.xv.4. 
not;' he is to consider, whether he can keep such a vow, 
without breaking the commandments of God, or not; if he 
can, then, certainly, he ought to have that regard to the 
name of God, that was called upon in the vow, and to the 
solemnities of it, and to the scandals that may follow upon 
his breaking it, that if he can continue in that state, without 
sinning against God, he ought to do it, and to endeavour all 
he can to keep his vow, and preserve his purity. But if, after 
he has used both fasting and prayer, he still finds that the 
obligation of his vow is a snare to him, and that he cannot 
both keep it, and also keep the commandments of God ; then 
the two obligations, that of the law of God, and that of his 
vow, happening to stand in one another's way, certainly the 
lesser must give place to the greater. Herod's oath was ill 
and rashly made, but worse kept, when, ' for his oath's sake,' '''v* 
he ordered the head of John the Baptist to be cut off. Our * ^* 
Saviour condemns that practice among the Jews, of vowing 
that to the corban or treasure of the temple, which they 
ought to have given to their parents ; and imagining that, by 



^ Expositions of ^ 



such means^ they were not obhged to take care of them^ or 
to supply them. The obUgation to keep the commandments 
of God is indispensable^ and antecedent to any act or vow of 
ours, and therefore it cannot be made void by any vow that 
we may take upon us : and if we are under a vow, which ex- 
poses us to temptations that do often prevail, and that prp- 
bably will prevail long upon us, then we ought to repent of 
our rashness in making any such vow, but must not continue 
in the observation of it, if it proves to us like the taking fire 
into our bosom, or the handling of pitch. A vow that draws 
many temptations upon us, that are above our strength to 
resist them, is, certainly, much better broken and repented of, 
than kept. So that, to conclude, celibate is not a matter fit 
to be the subject either of a law or a vow ; every man must 
consider himself, and what he is able to receive : ^ He that 
marries does well, but he that marries not does betteri^^ jjA 

X^m an eeusoad died ^ nam . giroioiY hem b^d diiw Aahnailimsii 
llr/f hhoY/ odi szuBoed bns .seadi ^d baiqmToo Ylcfianagni ad 
m ^'^^^mlq gai^i ad .-t^d^ ^Anidi oi baaoqeib aanadj mo-i3t ad 
"•ahffO slgah Yi9va i.Bd'W ,^^obr liddi lu bna .gnoaiaq do^^ 
^^^f^^M Qd idgno .Ibamid ahji b iag oi id-giso nmi 
E id bato^iianoa eia jedi ?.b ^snBhehdO Hb lo ate adcT abisin 
aiayaa jBiana§ ni ^sb baA .^lo^^Bq baB gabiu-g 'labnir ^bod 
--gbu'i bnB ffto//- adi Ito abam aa^lo ad o;t M-guo anoi^fiioni/nab 
B' boilBo 21 :^Bdi ^rm 11 02 i 2'i3nms ignisgs boO lo gjnam 
,[ijbnr.08 bnB nk lo aaijjoo b ni gavd ,nj5xjaiTdO b ,8i Ji5di .-^aA^ 
lad^o adi Ub oi noaiaq b dona lo -gnmiBw avig oi idguo vadi 
tod \mid diiw to zb'' dourn og don jBm 7s ^i^di ^enBha'ndO 

.mid mo'A ■ b ^Bm 

hnn ^^p^rropoTom adi M^-vp o-t -^f^-:-.-o :,viiq ,8idi nl 

i^'dod a \o noiiBioa'Sfi 

• gr ano Yi'^ 

• i Qi ddgjjo 

: 00 ano 

avi8 
aodcT avhb 
10 tbflfid 
> aini^n adT 
iii5m oi lav/oq s 
00 g iiadi lo galiii 

)dmnn nodi lo too abx/foxa 
'i avJoggib oi n^am js 10 
■ •t lo Ytob bnu aojS&o 
>d ad^ moil boo§ 
r'3dJ gnomi? 
t£.dj gnoii 
.^jjuos'iq B doD^ 
;.;5tooo adj.jjsdj Jadli 



THE X^lXrmTWl^n^' 477 



10 ,msxii to 91B0 8ii3i oi bsgilcfo ^orr sIiqw ^^jut .^ncaui '-xxMv 

wov 10 ioB YHB oi ' - . . ^ ibni gf boOlto 

c^Brfi wov Y^f Bi^RTIGLE XXXIII. isdi hnn ,?:iuo 
«X9 ffor/iw ,wov B idbnu oia ow ii ijim i /toqrj 9>fej vbot ew 

lo ^ngqsT 01 id-guo 9w n9ffi .ajj noqi; ^nol lij5V9Tq [JivA yldfid 

cut off from ti)t MniUj of t!)c Cf)ui-f5, antl 35)rcommtmicat(, ougljt 
^6 ht tafetn of tfje iujblc JHultttutfe of tijc dFatrtjful aig a Heathen 
^^^^nU a Publican : Wintil i)t ht opnxiv xcmuiltts fig 33t^nancr, autf 
^^t j:e,ail)t^f ii^to ti)z €l)nvd) a S^utrge tfjat ]^atf) ^nt\)oxitv 

tijei-nm^ ^^3^3 r^ov lo wrA b to i9flK9 jos^d/jg 9iij 9d oi 

All Christians are obliged to a strict purity and holiness of 
life : and every private man is bound to avoid all unnecessary 
familiarities with bad and vicious men ; both because he may 
be insensibly corrupted by these^ and because the world will 
be from thence disposed to think, that he takes pleasure in 
such persons, and in their vices. What every single Chris- 
tian ought to set as a rule to himself, ought to be likewise 
made the rule of all Christians, as they are constituted in a 
body under guides and pastors. And as, in general, severe 
denunciations ought to be often made of the wrath and judg- 
ments of God against sinners ; so if any that is called a bro- 
ther, that is, a Christian, lives in a course of sin and scandal, 
they ought to give warning of such a person to all the other 
Christians, that they may not so much ^ as eat with him,' but 1 Cor. v. 
may separate themselves from him. i^- 

In this, private persons ought to avoid the moroseness and 
affectation of saying, Stand by, for I am hoher than thou:^ Isai.lxv.5. 
'^if one is overtaken in a fault, then those who are spiritual Gal. vi. 1. 
ought to restore such an one in the spirit of meekness :' every 
one considering himself, ^lest he be also tempted.^ Exces- 
sive rigour will be always suspected of hypocrisy, and may 
drive those on whom it falls either into despair on the one 
hand, or into an unmanageable licentiousness on the other. 

The nature of all societies must import this, that they have 
a power to maintain themselves according to the design and 
rules of their society. A combination of men, made upon 
any bottom whatsoever, must be supposed to have a right to 
exclude out of their number such as may be a reproach to it, 
or a mean to dissolve it : and it must be a main part of the 
office and duty of the pastors of the church, to separate the 
good from the bad, to warn the unruly, and to put from 
among them wicked persons. There are several considera- 
tions that shew not only the lawfulness, but the necessity, of 
such a practice. 

First, that the contagion of an ill example and of bad prac- 



478 



^AiN EXPOSITION OF 



A R T. tices may not spread too far to the corrupting of others : ^ Evil 
XXXIII. communications corrupt good manners/ Their ' doctrines 
Tcouxw. spread as a gangrene :' and therefore, in order to 

33. the preserving the purity of those who are not yet corrupted, 
2^Tim. 11, ]^ jnay be necessary to note such persons, and to ^ have no 
2 fhess.iii. company with them.' 

14. A second reason relates to the persons themselves, that are 

so separated, that they may be ashamed ; that they may be 
Jude 23. thus ' pulled out of the fire,^ by the terror of such a proceed- 

1 Cor. V. ing^ which ought to be done by mourning over them, lamen|i©|^' 

2 cor. ii. t^^i^* sins and praying for them. ;t b-T^ r 
1,2, 3. The apostles made use even of those extraordinary powers 

that were given to them for this end. St. Paul delivered 
1 Tim.i. Hymeneeus and Alexander unto Satan, ^ that they might 
' ' learn not to blaspheme.' And he ordered that the incestuous 
person at Corinth ^ should be delivered to Satan for the 
destruction of the flesh, that the spirit might be saved in the 
day of the Lord Jesus.' Certainly a vicious indulgence to 
sinners is an encouragement to them to live in sin ; whereas 
when others about them try all methods for their recovery, 
and mourn for those sins in which they do perhaps glory, and 
do upon that withdraw themselves from all communication 
with them, both in spirituals, and as much as may be in tem- 
porals likewise ; this is one of the last means thatjca^^be>.us@iii 
in order to the reclaiming of them. :j ml ^ih^m lr-r^ 

Another consideration is the peace and the honour of the 
GaLv. 12. society, St. Paul wished that Hhey were cut off that troubled 
the churches :' great care ought to be taken, that / the name 
of God and his doctrine be not blasphemed,' and to give no 
occasion to the enemies of our faith to reproach us ; as if we 
designed to make parties, to promote our own interests, and 
to turn religion to a faction ; excusing such as adhere to us in 
other things, though they should break out into the most 
scandalous violations of the greatest of all the commandments 
of God. Such a behaviour towards excommunicated persons 
would also have this further good effect ; it would give great 
authority to that sentence, and fill men's minds with the awe 
of it, which must be taken off, when it is observed that miem. 
converse familiarly with those that are under it. tait/?m 
These rules are all founded upon the principles of societies, 
which, as they associate upon some common designs, so, in 
order to the pursuing those, must have a power to separate 
themselves from those who depart from them. 

In this matter there are extremes of both hands to be 
avoided : some have thought, that because the apostles have, 
Gal.i.8, 9. in general, declared such persons to be accursed, or under an 
l^Cor. xvi. i anathema, who preach another gospel,' and ^ such as love 
not the Lord Jesus, to be Anathema Maran-atha,' which is 
generally understood to be a total cutting off, never to be 
admitted till ^ the Lord comes/ that therefore the church 



THE XXXIX ARTICLES. 



479 



may still put men under an anathema, for holding such ^^^^'^'C. 
unsound doctrines^ as^, they think, make the gospel to become 
another, in part at least, if not in whole ; and that she may 7 
thereupon, in imitation of another practice of the apostles, c 
deliver them over tmto Satan, casting them out of thei ^"-^^^ 
protection of Christ, and abandoning them to the Devil o .^aagdTS 
reckoning that the 'cutting them oif^ from the body of M 
Christ is really the exposing them to the Devil, who goes 
about as a roaring lion, seeking whom he may devour. But gtul 
with what authority soever the apostles might, upon so great ;i ^^''^^ ^ 
a matter as the ' changing the gospel,^ or the ' not loving thdt 
Lord Jesus,* denounce an anathema, yet the applying this 
which they used so seldom, and upon such great occasions, to 
every opinion, after a decision is made in it, as it has carried 
on the notion of the infallibihty of the church, so it has laid 
a foundation for much uncharitableness, and many animositiesq 
it has widened breaches, and made them incurable. And^) 
unless it is certain that the church which has so decreed can^b 
not err, it is a bold assuming of an authority to which no 
fallible body of men can have a right. That ' delivery unto 
Satan' was visibly an act of a miraculous power lodged with^* 
the apostles : for as they struck some blind or dead, so they had 
an authority of letting loose evil spirits on some to haunt 
and terrify, or to punish and plague them, that a desperate 
evil might be cured by an extreme remedy. And therefore 
the apostles never reckon this among the standing functions 
of the church ; nor do they give any charge or directions 
about it. They used it themselves, and but seldom. It is 
true, that St. Paul being carried by a just zeal against the 
scandal, which the incestuous person at Corinth had cast upon 
the Christian religion, did adjudge him to this severe degree 
of censure : but he judged it, and did only order the Corin- 
thians to publish it, as coming from him, ' with the power of 
our Lord Jesus Christ:' that so the thing might become thes 
more public, and that the effects of it might be the more con- 
spicuous. The primitive church, that being nearest the 
fountain, did best understand the nature of church-power^^ 
and the effects of her censures, thought of nothing, in thiisi 
matter, but of denying to suffer apostates, or rather scandalous 
persons, to mix with the rest in the sacrament, or in the other 
parts of worship. They admitted them upon the profession 
of their repentance, by an imposition of hands, to share in 
some of the more general parts of the worship ; and even in 
these they stood by themselves, and at a distance from the 
rest : and when they had passed through several degrees in 
that state of mourning, they were by steps received back again s.i.isO 
to the communion of the church. This agrees well with all ■ 
that was said formerly concerning the nature and the ends of 
church-power ; ' which was given for edification, and not for 2 Cor. x. 8 
destruction.' This is suitable to the designs of the gospel, 



480 



AN EXPOSITION OF 



A RT. both for preserving the society pure^ and for reclaiming those 
[XXIII. ^i^Q are otherwise like to be carried away by the ^ Devil in his 
~~ snare/ This is to admonish sinners as brethren, and not to 
use them as enemies ; whereas the other method looks like a 
power that designs destruction, rather than edification, espe- 
cially when the secular arm is called in^ and that princes are 
required, under the penalties of deposition, and losing their 
dominions, to extirpate and destroy, and that by the crudest 
sort of death, all those whom the church doth so anathematize. 

We do not deny but that the form of denouncing or de- 
claring anathemas against heresies and heretics is very ancient. 
It grew to be a form expressing horror, and was applied to 
the dead as well as to the living. It was understood to be a 
cutting such persons olF from the communion of the church : 
if they were still alive, they were not admitted to any act of 
worship ; if they were dead, their names were not to be read 
at the altar among those who were then commemorated. But 
as heat about opinions increased, and some lesser matters 
grew to be more valued than the weightier things both of 
law and gospel, so the adding anathemas to every point, in 
which men differed from one another, grew to be a common 
practice, and swelled up at last to such a pitch, that, in the 
council of Trent, a whole body of divinity was put into 
canons, and an anathema was fastened to every one of them. 
The delivering to Satan was made the common form of ex- 
communication ; an act of apostolical authority being made a 
precedent for the standing practice of the church. Great sub- 
tilties were also set on foot concerning the force and effect of 
church-censures : the straining this matter too high, has 
given occasion to extremes on the other hand. If a man 
is condemned as an heretic, for that which is no heresy, but 
is an article founded on the word of God, his conscience is 
not at all concerned in any such censure : great modesty and 
decency ought indeed to be shewed by private persons, when 
they dispute against public decisions : but unless the church 
is infallible, none can be bound to implicit faith, or blind sub- 
mission. Therefore an anathema, ill founded, cannot hurt 
him against whom it is thundered. If the doctrine, upon 
which the censures and denunciations of the church are 
grounded, is true, and if it appears so to him that sets him- 
self against it, he who thus despises the pastors of the church 
despises Christ ; in whose name, and by whose authority, they 
are acting. But if he is still under convictions of his being in 
the right, when he is indeed in the wrong, then he is in a state of 
ignorance, and his sins are sins of ignorance, and they will be 
judged by that G od, who knows the sincerity of all men^s hearts, 
and sees into their secretest thoughts, hovv^far the ignorance is 
wilful and affected, and how far it is sincere and invincible. 

And as for those censures that are founded upon the proofs 
that are made of certain facts that are scandalous, either the 



THE XXXIX ARTICLES. 



481 



person on whom they are charged knows himself to be really ART 
guilty of them, or that he is wronged, either by the witnesses, XXXIII 
or the pastors and judges : if he is indeed guilty, he ought to " 
consider such censures as the medicinal provisions of the 
church against sin : he ought to submit to them, and to such 
rebukes and admonitions, to such public confessions, and 
other acts of self-abasement, by which he may be recovered 
out oi ^the snare of the Devil;' and may repair the public 2 Tim. ii. 
scandal that he has brought upon the profession of Christia- 
nity, and recover the honour of it, which he has blemished^ 
as far as lies in him. : 

This is the ^ sul^mitting to tno^se that 'over him, and the Heb. xiii. 
' obeying them as those that watch for his soul, and that must 
give an account of it.' But if, on the other hand, any such 
person is run down by falsehood and calumny, he must sub- 
mit to that dispensation of God's providence, that has suffered 
such a load to be laid upon him: he must not betray his inte- 
grity • he ought to commit his way to God, and to bear his 
burden patientl}^ Such a censure ought not at all to give 
him too deep an inward concern : for he is sure it is ill founded, 
and therefore it can have no effect upon his conscience. God^ 
W'ho knows his innocence, will acquit him, though all the 
world should condemn him. He must indeed submit to that 
separation from the body of Christians : but he is safe in his 
secret appeals to God, who sees not as man sees, but judges 
righteous judgment: and sudti a censure as this cannot be 
bound in heaven. 

In the pronouncing the cetisures of the church, great care 
and tenderness ought to be used ; for men are not to be 
rashly cut off from the body of Christ; nothing but a wilful 
obstinacy in sin, and a deliberate contempt of the rules and 
orders of the church, can justify this extremity. Scandalous 
sinners may be brought und^r the medicinal cure of the 
church, and the offender may be denied all the privileges of 
Christians, till he has repaired the offence that he has given. 
Here another extreme has been run into by men, w^ho, being 
jealous of the tyranny of the church of E-ome, have thought 
that the world could not be safe from that, unless all church- 
power were destroyed : they have thought that the ecclesias- 
tical order is a body of men bound by their office to preach 
the gospel, and to offer the sacraments, to all Christians ; but 
that as the gospel is a doctrine equally offered to all, in which 
every man must take the particular application of the pro- 
mises, the comforts, and the terrors of it to himself, as he will 
answer it to God ; so they imagine that the sacraments are in 
the same promiscuous manner to be offered to all persons; 
and that every man is to try and examine himself, and so to 
partake of them ; but that the clergy have no authority to 
deny them to any person, or to put marks of distinction or of 
infamy on men : and that therefore the ancient discipline of 

2i 



wlio>sin = times .Qf :miseFy[ ^nd perjsecutioii, siibiiiiieKJf tmilijEldi 
rules asi ;seenaed Becessary rin that state of, things ;v.h\ihih^ 
now all the authority that the church hath, founded ; only ©d 
the law of the land^ and is still, subject to it. So thalfe wh^ 
changes or alteratiqns darp * appoiin;tedi;j3f/i|li^;,ciyiLia^ 
iip^t take placf^ Muh^hi^fi^fnih^^MAif^ ^fi 

S£iin^|aBWetd08tyit|]i|[|§) iJa^idte^ bfoi^i^^^M^dthlii&jtteji^ 
gilaB^lsnd /exfent of thisegtot^Mjfkf^^ilgit md^ 
mgtihent of it, were atiiirsfes^^e^hyoc6sgte§iili^n^ttj;m 
tiie times of persecution, the> laity> whoremhr^Q^)ife 63^iri«B 
tim religion, jw^ere. to the diurch : in§^ead,.jQi iMrM^i^fcsaifeel 
jiivs jibM i'^r^lfi© *ctoqew^ of religion were S3:pp!g>ri^(»f«^^ 

y^dhmbidm^(^s :^m^M^^m 9iin^ter^i(|i^c|;q;^MficdpfeH^^ 

ctjMSirnMg lb@oiir@iamMsi©jii<M:ittig/0^&J^#§iil^^ 

Jerusaleoi'ii^i qfjismi^ pm^iitm^f^j§M^fm^mBhmtM 

to o^uiottcjc^aneounddr^^^^ ^n^Qc|fewd c^((ShjrisMsno|)riBi3e4 
ai^'f m^gBstratesijii^ii) ^the^tp^tmfla^^ rjrosf ©finite MiMidl^ 
to ,thefo^]^po# whom the pefeee and order t^f 4h^£jr«KJd^^4^ 
p^jajdfid. ?s«iKet thowgh all this is aeknowledged,/i»%^seci"tpiaiilIy, 
tkat in the NeW" -Testament jtlmrje ar^e jnstsay general mim 
gjyen, for the goYerameaai/^nd" ordsecidf the.icjhurch. Timatby 

and that 'b£fm^e^ftlk't;Tke^hQdf>{^ tke^ChrisitistmtiSf teqmifcei 
to submit thems^G^^m^QTd$2m'ditiiio,bey%th^ 
to be carried to an indefinite and boundless degree, but must 
be limited to that doctrine which they were to teach, and to 
s;uch things as depended upon it, or tended to its estalilislteu 
ment and propagation. From these general heads we see ju&t 
grounds to assert such a power i i the pastors. «>ffith© pbwrufi^ 
as is. for edification, but not for destruction^;: andytherefoue/. 
ki^eois a foundation of power laid down:; ilthough it A| tiioit* 
t0ibe denied but that, in the application of it, such prudence- 
anted discretion ought to be used, as may make it most likely 
to attain those ends for which it is given. 

A general consent, in time of persecution, was necessary; 
otherwise too indiscreet a rigour might have pulled down that 
which ought to have been built up. If in a broken state of 
things a common consent ought to be much endeavoured and 
stayed for, this is much more necessary in a regular and 
settled time, with relation to the civil authority, under whom 
the whole society is put, according to its constitution. But 
it can never be supposed that the authority of the pastors of 
the church is no other than that of a lawyer or a physician to 
their clients, who are still at their liberty, and are in no sort 



j^eMart tfe>3th«¥^^iva^»«&tt«trri^^f^ 'general rules £ti*6 

<i)gt«ed'(in>^'&titlit)rft^% ^jidt pfe^^iided ^to j awd 'these vA^y 
be cbmparfed to ^11 MHen^ ^M'vicfe^; 6nly ^th this diff(^reflo€S, 
thdt' pastors of ^the ohtirciL f^-watclii lover tlie s6«ls of b theil^ 
p^ptey and ttausti^ive' an etccoutit of ' theffli^^ j Ba^b; when things 
ai^ grovm-^hto niietko^^^^^ aw>ls0tded^ th^rfe 

the o6n$iderat!(ki 'Of edifieattoii and unlty,fia'Md(o€ maintidtiyg 
p€^ceiaM> oMek-^ 'aref=^di' sateifedi dcbliga^0bsot)fl9weiy* '©ne 
that ba^ a *m€^ *ega4td t^^ii-eMgten^ that^s^cit a^itespi^ 
ffla5^tef^Ui4^)(@ked''o"fti sk^hmthm^^M'^uMimmj; isaditle^r 
aretisd M'tdfewofse^thah- th^y^ as a secilet 'and w^ll-disgili§^ 
t!>Ak)dfife inauch more dangerbtis than an open^ professed em^ 
hay.' And' thougll these words of our Saviour,, of ^ telling thi Matt, xviii. 
churchy' may^ perhap^^ inot be so strictly applicable to thi^ i'^- 
ma^efS^'i^i^^tftefii^'priniiayffi'^i^ I® ouxsi^Savioiir? first spdk€ 
^efte|) ^«iri^i^'^ri4tore't5l^^ifeip/^Mc*tiie^^^ reason^ naa^ 
^^^teadRSsito^tMSn^^e^^ Oia^ Ukoughg-thosfe' words did h3mh©!^ 
dis^ly «elate' !fe© tlie eomposirtg^^f jdrivate drffierencesy arad- M 
delating' intractable persons to the synagogues^ yet th^yjfifiay 
b©<i^ell ektendfed to alli th^)se public offencfesy wliicb kre^iiw 
juriess^o th& ■< wTit>le body Jand may be now ■ applied to t^U 
Chtistifen (Dh^¥eh5isjid)fto thef^piS^^^cf^id'gfiiides of it^ thoU^ 
tb^lj^ia^(Kl) theTS^agbgue m^ben tMy imke fet^pokei*. oJ 
, {Ifeikitherefore < 'hi^h% congruous bofcfe thfe? ^Kole = MiiM^ 
aiJte GWst^TX r«figi<5Hy andi to ^many^^^ssagi^ ini^hefN^^ 
'^cfetaniinit^ ihatiitheri^ shotiMolfefitultesrrsetsf©cs ©eitstoing':^0fg 
feiid^rs, 'that sa they may >b©'>i^clainiedv * or^ a least ashamed.^ 
and that others may fear: and las the finar sentence of every 
authority whatsoever j must b& the Cutting off from the bod^ 
all such as continue in a wilful disobedience to the laws of the 
society ; so if any, who call themselves Christians, will live so 
as to be a reproach to that which they profess, they must be 
cut off, and cast out ; for if there is any sort of power in the 
church, it must terminate in this. This is the last and highest 
act of their authority ; it is like death or banishment by the 
civil power, which are not proceeded to but upon great occa- 
sions, in which milder censures will not 2)revail, and where the 
general good of the society requires it : so casting out being 
the last act of church-power, like a parent's disinheriting a 
child, it ought to be proceeded in with that slowness, and 
upon such consideratioils, as may well justify the rigour of it. 
A wilful contempt of order and authority carries virtually in 
it every other irregularity ; because it dissolves the union of 
the body, and destroys that respect, b}^ which all the other 
ends of religion are to be attained; and, when this is deli- 
berate and fixed, there is no other way of proceeding, but by 
cutting off those who are so refractory, and who set so ill an 
example to others. i • i . 

If the execution of this should happen to fall under great 

2 I 2 



484 



AN EXPOSITION OF 



A R T. disorders, so that many scandalous persons are not censured, 
CXXIIL and a promiscuous multitude is suffered to break in upon 
~ the most sacred performances, this cannot justify private per- 

sons, who upon that do withdraw from the communion of the 
church : for after all that has been said, the divine precept is 
to every man to ^try and examine himself,^ and not to try and 
censure others. All order and government are destroyed, if 
private persons take upon them to judge and censure others ; 
or to separate from any body, because there are abuses in the 
use of this authority. 

Private confession in the church of Rome had quite de- 
stroyed the government of the church, and superseded all the 
ancient penitentiary canons ; and the tyranny of the church 
of Rome had set many ingenious men on many subtle con- 
trivances, either to evade the force of those canons, to which 
some regard was still preserved, or to maintain the order of 
the church, in opposition to the appeals that were made to 
Rome : and while some pretended to subject all things to the 
papal authority, others studied to keep up the ancient rules. 
The encroachments that the temporal and spiritual courts 
were making upon one another occasioned many disputes : 
which being managed by such subtle men as the civilians and 
canonists were, all this brought in a great variety of cases and 
rules into the courts of the church : so that, instead of th^ 
first simplicity, which was evident in the constitution of the 
church, not only for the first three centuries, but for a great 
many more that came afterwards, there grew to be so much 
practice, and so many subterfuges in the rules and manner of 
proceeding of those courts, that the church has long groaned 
under it, and has wished to see that effected which was de- 
signed in the beginnings of the Reformation. The draught of 
a reformation of those courts is still extant ; that so instead 
of the intricacies, delays, and other disorders, that have arisen 
from the canon law, we might have another short and plain 
body of rules ; which might be managed, as anciently, by 
bishops, with the assistance of their clergy. But though this 
is not yet done, and that, by reason of it, the tares grow up 
with the wheat, we ought to let them grow together till the 
great harvest comes, or at least, till a proper harvest may be 
given to the church by the providence of God; in which the 
good may be distinguished and separated from the bad, with- 
out endangering the ruin of all ; which must certainly be the 
effect of people's falling indiscreetly to this before the time. 



THE XXXIX ARTICLES. 



485 



ART. 
XXXIV. 

ARTICLE XXXIV. 
Of the Traditions of the Church. 

)[t i£{not ne«£l£lar^ tijat CraUitions; anH €mmonit!A ht in all 
out, ox uttevli) lifee ; for at all tirnt^ ti)ty l;abe been tJibersle, antf 
imv be djairseti accortlmg to tlje tJiber^it» of Countviesi min pien'^ 
Plamtevj;, ^o tljat notj^mg be ortJatneK agamslt (&oti'^ WortJ. 
rai)0£(oeber tfjrougi^ pnbate S^utrgmeut, ioilluiglp antr pur^ 

" poselp tJotl) openly breafe tlje Cratiitton^ antf Ceremonie^g of tl)e 
€i)mcf)y iry^icl) be not repugnant to tl)e W^otiS of <^o)J, antf be 
orUainetr antf approbetf b» common ^uti)or{t^, ougi^t to be rebufeeti 
openlp (ti)at otljers; mai? fear to tfo tl)e lifee) a^ one t]^at offentjeti^ 
againsit ti^e common (Bv^tv of tlje Cljurci^, antj Jurtet]^ ti^e ^utljo^? 
r{t» of tl^e Plagt^trate, antJ ioounUet]^ t^t Con^cienceig of luealt 
23retl)ren. 

?JEi)erp particular or national Cl)urcl) Jatl) ^utl;oritp to ortram, 
change, an"0 abolts;]^ Ceremonieig or ^ite^of t!)e Cl)urc]^, ortrameU 
. onl» hv mm*!i f(ut]^oritp ; So t]^at all ti^tng^ be Kone to etfifwing. 

This Article consists of two branches: the first is^, that the 
church hath power to appoint such rites and ceremonies as 
are not contrary to the word of God ; and that private persons 
are bound to conform themselves to their orders. The second 
is^ that it is not necessary that the whole church should meet 
to determine such matters ; the power of doing that being in 
every national churchy which is fully empowered to take care 
of itself; and no rule made in such matters is to be held un- 
alterable, but may be changed upon occasion. 

As to the first, it hath been already considered, when the 
first words of the twentieth Article were explained. There \ 
the authority of the church in matters indifferent was stated \ ' 
and proved. It remains now only to prove, that private per- \ 
sons are bound to conform themselves to such ceremonies, 
especially when they are also enacted by the civil authority. 
It is to be considered, that the Christian religion was chiefly 
designed to raise and purify the nature of man, and to make 
human society perfect : now brotherly love and charity does 
this more than any one virtue whatsoever : it raises a man to 
the likeness of God ; it gives him a divine and heavenly 
temper within himself, and creates the tenderest union and 
firmest happiness possible among all the societies of men : 
our Saviour has so enlarged the obligation to it, as to make 
it, by the extent he has given it, ' a great and new command- John xiii. 
ment,^ by w^hich all the world may be able to know and j^^- 
distinguish his followers from the rest of mankind : and as all ' ' 



.^I^TR/tJ^je apostles insist much upon this in every one df tn^lf 
>UX-Xi V_ ]^pistles, not excepting the shortest of them ; sq St. JOhli^" 
J4l[]Qhr»,itttjWl^^ writ last of them^ has dwelt more fully upon it than uporr 
11,23. ^py other duty whatsoever. Our Saviour did particularly 
iptend that his followers should ])e associated into one body, 
and joined together^ in order to their keeping up and in^ 
^ming their mutual love ; and therefore he delivered his 
prayer to them all in the plural_, to shew that he intended 
that they should use it in a body : he appointed baptism a!;^ 
the way of receiving men into this body, and the eucharist as 
a joint memorial that the body was to keep up that of his 
death. For this end he appointed pastors to teach and k^SJj 
his followers in a body : and in his last and longest prayer 
John xvii. to the Father, he repeats this, that ' they might be one ;^ that 
11,21, 22, i |-]^py n^iglit ])e kept in one (body), and made perfect in one/ 
in live several expressions; which shews l)oth how necessary 
a part of his religion he meant this should be, and likewise 
intimates to us the danger that he foresaw, of his followers 
^(^eparting from it ; which made him intercede so earnestly 'fi^ 
jt°. One expression tliat he has of this union, shews ho^ 
Wtire and tender he intended that it should be; for he prayM 
^jjiat the union might be such as that between the Fafktr 
I Cor. x'u. ^nd himself was. The apostles use the figure of ^ bod'tj 
12—26. Ii^equently, to express this union; than which nothing can be 
imagined that is more firmly knit together, and in which all 
.ra „raoH the parts do more tenderly sympathise with one another. 

0^;^ Upon all these considerations we may very certainly gathei^ 
rfr^at the dissolving this union, the dislocating this body, ^afcfd 
fine doing any thing that may extinguish the love and charity 
iby which Christians are to be made so happy in themselves, 
4nd so useful to one another, and by which the body of 
Christians grows much the firmer and stronger, and shines 
more in the world; that, I say, the doing this upon slight 
grounds, must be a sin of a very high nature. Nothing can 
be a just reason either to carry men to it> or to justify thffii 
in it, but the imposing on them unlawful terms of commuhidrt'; 
for in that case it is certain, that ^ we must obey God rather 
than man;' that we must ^ seek truth and peace' together; 
and that the rule of ^ keeping a good conscience in all things,^ 
Actsxxiv. is laid thus, to do it first ' towards God, and then towards 
man.' So that a schism that is occasioned by any churcMs 
imposing unlawful terms of communion, lies at their door wito 
impose them, atid the guilt is wholly theirs.* But with(Mt 
such a necessity, it is certainly, both in its own nature, and' iti 
its cpnsequences_, one of the greatest of sins, to create needless 
disturbances in the church, and to give occasion to all that 
alienation of mind, all those rash censures, and unjust judg- 
ments, that do arise from such divisions. This receives a 



16. 



* 8ce note, page 100. 




\Gjr^jg^'gat^,^ggra,vation, if the civil authority has concurred by A R T. 
a^^lJlJ^t^^ipnioin the ob.scryunce of such indifrerent thiri^^'^ F6r ^^^^y^ 

^Ijmif lawfvd commands we o\ye an ()l)edience;, ^ no't^&i^.y ^ 

if^l^t i\)r conscience su|ve since the authority of ^n^'Romta4nf^l 

ni^tp.9i;? l,s|,9hi.(j^4>'ot,^c'l?^.'iB"]ptey^^^ ."^ ^^^'^ inatters. ' As'M -y',;^^^ 
tl^inpj,tli^^aj;f^ ej|:jaj5r <?(^^^ of God,' tli^ 

i\i^t,xl^^'~~~~ ' -~ — 

^^nj^^d^^ ,and proper means, far^^j^^' ji^jnfe^^ 
TL:|i^Q(n^,and.decenGy,ins the society : axi6^ '^nerefpre^ sucjK lajwy^*^ 
^Q,..9ajad^ by .him; jn ,those things^fdo'ce'rt'^inly^"\in^^ 

gtutabie and taili r pj^^ l^jpt of.givmg scandal, or tne 

Jaying a^stumbling-bl9^ 41^ pur brotlier^s way, is applie'd^, tS) 
our dohig of such act^9P?,,^^ jgi^j^^ occasions of^h 

to others. Every maia^^ccjjxJu^g t^^,|tn^ iijfluence thaf -fiis 
example or. authority may havje ^j^^:^. Q|;hprS; who do too easily 
implicitly follow him, becQX^^'s^tiief^^by the more capable 
^i^^yjiiig .them scandal : that,i&^l[(^iui^^^^ 

^iRga^fei^l^^y sins: and since rafen^^^'^j^cler fetters, yccord;-'"*|j°^2.'f 
j|5igtitp{|>§e. persuasions that they hav^ 6|j^things, he who thinlis 
a thing, sinful, does sin if he does it, as long as he is under 
;t^t apprehension ; because he dehberately ventures on that 
fwhich he thinks offends God; even while ^ he doubts of it,^ 
or makes. a distinctwn between meats, (for the word rendered 
doubts^ signifies also the making a difference,) ' he is damiied^ 
;(that is, seK-condemned, as acting against his own sense of 
things) if he does it. Another man, that has larger thoughts 
and clearer ideas, may see that there is no sin in an action, 
^ibout which others may be still in doubt, and so upon his 
own account he may certainly do it : but if he has reason to 
believe that his doing that may draw others, who have not 
iSjUch clear, notions, to do it after his example, they being still 
4-a doubt as to the lawfulness of it, then he gives scandal, that 
'is^ he la^^s a stumbling-block in their way, if he does it, unless 
gfe^jiije^ under an obligation from some of the laws of God, or .. .^y^ 
^of-^yi|j^i society to which he belongs, to do it. In that case he ^ m 
. is bound to obey ; and he must not then consider the con- 
fs^quences of his actions; of which he is only bound to take 
^axe, when he is left to himself, and is at full liberty to do, or 
;-not- to do, aS' he< pleases. 

:iThis explains the notion of scandal, as it is used in the 
Epistles : for there being several doubts raised at that time, 
M concerning the lawfulness or obligation of observing the 
Mosaical law, and concerning the lawfulness of eating meats 

offered to idols, no general decision was made, that went 



48S 



AN EXPOSITION OF 



ART. through that matter ; the apostles having only decreed^ that 
the Mosaical law was not to be imposed on the Gentiles ; but 
not having condemned such as might of their own accord 
have observed some parts of that law, scrupled arose about 
this ; and so here they gave great caution against the laying 
Rom. xiv. a stumbling-block in the way of their brethren. But it is 
. visible from this, that the fear of giving scandal does only 
take place where matters are free, and may be done or not 
done. But when laws are made, and an order is settled, the 
fear of giving scandal lies all on the side of obedience; for a 
man of weight and authority, when he does not obey, gives 
scruples and jealousies to others, who will be apt to collect 
from his practice that the thing is unlawful : he who does not 
conform himself to settled orders gives occasion to others, 
who see and observe him, to imitate him in it ; and thus he 
lays a scandal or stumbling-block in their way ; and all the sins 
which they commit through their excessive respect to him, 
and imitation of him, are in a very high degree to be put to 
his account, who gave them such occasion of falling. 

The second branch of this Article is against the unalter- 
ableness of laws made in matters indifferent ; and it asserts 
the right of every national church to take care of itself. That 
the laws of any one age of the church cannot bind another, is 
very evident from this, that all legislature is still entire in the 
hands of those Avho have it. The laws of God do bind all 
men at all times ; but the laws of the church, as well as the 
laws of every state, are only provisions made upon the present 
state of things, from the fitness or unfitness that appears to 
be in them for the great ends of religion, or for the good of 
mankind. All these things are subject to alteration, therefore 
the power of the church is in every age entire, and is as great 
as it was in any one age since the days in wliich she was under 
^ I the conduct of men immediately inspired. So there can be 
I no unalterable laws in matters indiiFerent. In this there 
neither is nor can be any controversy. 

An obstinate adhering to things, only because they are an- 
cient, when all the ends for which they were at first intro- 
duced do cease, is the limiting the church in a point in which 
she ought still to preserve her liberty : she ought still to 
pursue those great rules in all her orders, of doing all things 
to edification, with decency, and for peace. The only ques- 
tion that can be made in this matter is, whether such general 
laws as have been made by greater bodies, by general councils 
for instance, or by those synods whose canons were received 
into the body of the canons of the catholic church ; whether 
these, I say, may be altered by national churches ; or whether 
the body of Christians is so to be reckoned one body, that all 
the parts of it are bound to submit, in matters indifferent, to 
the decrees of the body in general ? It is certain, that all the 
parts of the catholic church ought to hold a communion one 



THE XXXIX ARTICLES. 



489 



with another, and mutual commerce and correspondence A 
together : but this difference is to be observed between the 
Christian and the Jewish rehgion, that the one was tied 
to one nation, and to one place, whereas the Christian religion^ ^ 
is universal, to be spread to all nations, among people of dif- ^ 
ferent climates and languages, and of different customs and 
tempers : and therefore, since the power in indifferent matters , 
is given the church only in order to edification, every nation \ 
must be the proper judge of that within itself. The Roman 
empire, though a great body, yet was all under one govern- 
ment; and therefore all the councils that were held while that''^ 
empire stood, are to be considered only as national synods, ' 
under one civil policy. The Christians of Persia, India, ^ 
or Ethiopia, were not subject to the canons made by them, 
but were at full liberty to make rules and canons for them- 
selves. And in the primitive times we see a vast diversity in 
their rules and rituals. They were so far from imposing ' 
general rules on all, that they left the churches at full liberty : ' ^ 
even the council of Nice made very few rules : that of Con- 
stantinople and Ephesus made fewer : and though the abuses 
that were growing in the fifth century gave occasion to the 
council of Chalcedon to make more canons, yet the number 
of these is but small: so that the tyranny of subjecting par^- - 
ticalar churches to laws that might be inconvenient for them, -^^ 
was not then brought into the church. ' 

The corruptions that did afterwards overspread the church, 
together with the papal usurpations, and the new canon law 
that the popes brought in, which was totally different from 
the old one, had worn out the remembrance of all the ancient 
canons ; so it is not to be wondered at, if they were not much 
regarded at the Reformation. They were quite out of practice, 
and were then scarce known. And as for the subordination 
of churches and sees, together with the privileges and ex- 
emptions of them, these did all flow from the divisions of the 
Roman empire into dioceses and provinces, out of which the 
dignity and the dependences of their cities did arise. 

But now that the Roman empire is gone, and that all the > 
laws which they made are at an end, with the authority that ' 
made them ; it is a vain thing to pretend to keep up the 
ancient dignities of sees ; since the foundation upon which 
that was built is sunk and gone. Every empire, kingdom, or 
state, is an entire body within itself. The magistrate has that 
authority over all his subjects, that he may keep them all at 
home, and hinder them from entering into any consultations 
or combinations but such as shall hQ under his direction : he' 
may require the pastors of the church under him to consult rf* 
together about the best methods for carrying on the ends of 
religion ; but neither he nor they can be bound to stay for the- • 
concurrence of other churches. In the way of managing ' -^ 
this, every body of men has somewhat peculiar to itself: and < i 



AWWA the pastors of that body are the properest judges in that 
matter. We know that the several churches^ even while 
"""^ under one empire^ had great varieties in their forms^ as 
appears in the difFe^4]&'^^^c4c^-W ^V\M Eastern and western 
churches : and as soon as the Roman empire was broken^ we 
see this variety did increaiesoH^E© Gallican churches had 
their missals different from the Roman: and some churches 
<liillal|rf Mot«dathcaSUd3]$98ia# ;a^iife^ite-li6o^(giQ?^t^(ll 
cp^j^e^jfusfithittiie ideaii«^^oftttfee.<j|)0p^ ttteuQsSw^ 
lurches to depart from their, own tnissals^ and'1x> reo^i^^^e 
Jtoman ; which he might the rather do^ intending -tj|.,l^e 
^^ed a new empire ; to, which a conformity of rites^^mjght 
5^ve beeu a great sj^p. Jivep,^ iia^ this church tl^k^re "\vai?j a 
great variety bf usages^ which perhaps were begun under 
Heptarchy^ when the nation was subdivided into several 

kingdoms. ..affimoH snnc A^tr,'//: -/il' ^ ^, 

It IS thererore suitable to the nature oi things^ to the au- 
thority of th#'fti%Mtt^^e)^^and t^ tte^ bbligatit^nsf th^A^si 
toral care, that every ehUreh should act within Mrlfelf*w^a4* 
entire and indepe^ident body. The churches o's^S^'bt'^^tf 
a friendly aiid correspondent anothei*^^^%ut 

they owe to th^ir ow^i '^ody ffoverhnient arid directic^a^na 



they owe to thfeir ow^^^Jxp^y goverhment arid directj^^^^ 
such provisions, ^d^ei^^. as^f |;^.,^(^|^ hk^^^^flgm^^ 
the great ends of rehgioUj^^nd to preserve me peace^^f^^|he 
society both in church a^4 state., ;^-,.'I^|^fi^^^i^%^e^#^^^tfli^ 
>vay bound^^byf^tient c&nons, but as the same-^t^^^^^j^tijj 
subsisting, we may see^tisfe>same\Gau«e''tofa8<Mitiiij^ thto5\Piai 
there was at first wifiajfe^ them. i-^^b^*! 

Of all the bodies ot tHe \\'orld^1;h^l5hT5tfc!i oTRofti^ hn^h^ 
worst grace to reproach us for departing in some particulars 
from the ancient canons, since it was her ill conduct that h^^ 
brought them all into desuetude : and it is not easy to reviv^ 
again antiquated rules, even though there may be good reason 
for it, when they fall under that tacit abrogation^ which arises 

out of a long and geiier^^ti^^ erf ffifeitii*^^; 

iUm Y^q^^^oo) bib Miti saoris 

ifidi og I Iff aril oi bQioshB-ihw Ms tfon sisw ^sbav . _ 

oi gmbiooos dosai oi izei edi 9§Hdo oi buB ^araoa 1© aioslab 
^sMimoH lo giood owl ©isw aiedi ^ssth^aofe basset "X© s««'to\9ril 
Qdi I amii g'^biawba gnii ni hsdsMnq asw laiB arfl i baieqstq 
:ti 0g I diBdb aid \o smii edi inods Uii Bsriamfi ioa 8w Bxioosa 
"Sb ddT .Qmii gMlsd^silS xissup siolsd bsdmldsiq ion &bw 
iBoiioBiq diiw atoioq SYlislnosqg xlm oi ebw modi lo ngfg 
arto amolns ^l.^dio bnB ^sniiiaob ddi nMqxs amoa ^ aiaJiBH! 
=ail) iiods bfis mdq 91b sasriT ^gisnnam Bna sill lo ^elm 
98fi98 M dibff aoiiaa sdi gasggoq oi bQidnoh^ Yftsfdo ,^^^mot} 
»5fiolJqmtoo sdi oi rfoiJlaoqqo nl ^laqaog - /towq 9xii la 
bjsri iadi saw ;s«iv« agori-t fflOTi ii miofe. ^ iyi.dqoq lo ... 



3BiiJ m 89§bjj[ J89i9qoiq srfj 3is \ho6 isdi lo &^oi&sq odi AIWA 

aw ^xi9:>foid g^Y/^ siiqma iuunoH yrli as aooa as bn/s ; agrfoiuffo 
bjsii &9doiFjdD neoiii&D QflHonaSiioaoni bib ^igmy zidi ^o^ 
zddoiudo dmoE biies : smmoH. ad) moil in9i9'Sib aiszpAm iiddi 

3^ofe of fl<mtme^, &j]^uI)Pite^ ^<^fi^| (« Ctme of EdWdJ^ 

' t\)t 0im^UvS, tJiligeritli) ant t^ikturttlw, tte^^ mai) be ui^ 
tj;r^tan^clJof ti)e lcoprt. ' t^9iif. ^^sig 

The Names of the Homilies. ^ ^^rnob-gail 

U^Qf thenghiXIseef tkeChurch. of God's Word. to Yihodi 
% Against Peril of Jdohtry. 11. Of Alms doing, o j , . f - ro j 
3, 0/ repairing ^ and keeping i 12. 0/" fA^ Nuiivity of (Christ. 
■lean of Churches. 13. Of the Passion of Christ* 



^. Of good Works. Firsts of 14:. Of the Kesurrectiori Qf!l 
' Fasling, Christ. '[ 

B^^gainst Gluttony and Drunk- \ IB. Of the worthy receiving 
-' ■hiness. ' the Sacrament of the Bod\ 

Against Excess of Apparel, i and Blood of Christ. 
Of Prayer. \ 16. Cf/ Me Gi/f.? of the 



B. Of the Place and Time of \i GJwst. _ <\^du?. 
Prayer. 

9, That Conmon ^f^sit/^rs^md 
Sacraments ouglu to be minis- 
^ tered in a known Tongue, 
t^f.J^ i^ftt^/r^verejit Estimation 



17. For the Rogation- Day s^ii 

18. Of the State of Malrmony* 
X^. Of Repentance. ijiioy/ 
^. Against Weness. 
21. Against Rebelhor^^ jrignoid 

At the time of the Reformation^ as there could not be fouri^ 
at first a sufficient number of preachei's^l^Q instruct the whole 
nation ; so those that did comply with ^e changes which 
were then made, were not all well-afFected to them ; so that 
it was not safe to trust this matter to the capacity of the one 
side, and to the integrity of others ; therefore, to supply the 
defects of some, and to oblige the rest to teach according to 
the form of sound doctrine, there were two books of Homihes 
prepared ; the first was published in king Edward^s time ; the 
second was not finished tiU about the time of his death ; so it 
was not published before queen Elizabeth's time. The de- 
sign of them was to mix speculative points with practical 
matters ; some explain the doctrine, and others enforce the 
rules of life and manners. These are plain and short dis- 
courses, chiefly calculated to possess the nation with a sense 
of the purity of the gospel, in opposition to the corruptions 
of popery ; and to reform it from those crying sins that had 



492 



AN EXPOSITION GF 



A II T. been SO much connived at under popery^ while men knew the 
price of them, how to compensate for them, and to redeem 
themselves from the guilt of them, by masses and sacraments, 
by indulgences and absolutions. 

In these Homilies the scriptures are often applied as they 
^were then understood; not so critically as they have been 
explained since that time. But by this approbation of the 
two books of Homilies, it is not meant that every passage of 
scripture, or argument that is made use of in them, is always 
convincing, or that every expression is so severely worded, 
that it may not need a little correction or explanation : all that 
we profess about them, is only that they contain a godly and 
wholesome doctrine. This rather relates to the main import- 
ance and design of them, than to every passage in them. 
Though this may be said concerning them, that considering 
the age they werp written in, the imperfection of our language, 
and some lesser defects, they are two very extraordinary 
books. Some of them are better writ than others, and are 
equal to any thing that has been writ upon those subjects 
since that time. Upon the whole matter, every one who 
su'bscribes the Articles, ought to read them, otherwise he 
subscribes a blank ; he approves a book implicitly, and binds 
himself to read it, as he may be required, without knowing 
any thing concerning it. This approbation is not to be 
stretched so far, as to carry in it a special assent to every 
particular in that whole volume ; but a man must be per- 
suaded of the main of the doctrine that is taught in them. 

To instance this in one particular ; since there are so many 
x)f the Homilies that charge the church of Rome with idolatry, 
and that from so many different topics, no man who thinks 
that church is not guilty of idolatry, can with a good con- 
science subscribe this Article, that the Homilies contain a 
good and loholesome doctrine, and necessary for these times ; 
for according to his sense they contain a false and an uncha- 
ritable charge of idolatry against a church that they think is 
not guilty of it ; and he will be apt to think that this was 
done to heighten the aversion of the nation to it : therefore 
any who have such favourable thoughts of the church of 
Home, are bound, by the force of that persuasion of theirs, 
not to sign this Article, but to declare against it, as the 
authorizing of an accusation against a church, which they 
think is ill grounded, and is by consequence both unjust and 
uncharitable. 

By necessary for these times, is not to be meant that this 
was a book fit to serve a turn ; but only that this book was 
necessary at that time to instruct the nation aright, and so 
was of great use then : but though the doctrine in it, if once 
true, must be always true, yet it will not be always of the 
same necessity to the people. As for instance ; there are 
many discourses in the Epistles of the apostles that relate to 



THE XXXIX ARTICLES. 



493 



the controversies then' B^<f^Vitli"th§''3"tidMz6^ ARf. 
engagements the Christians then lived in with the heathens, XXXY. 
and to those corrupters of Christianity that were in those ' 
days. Those doctrines were necessary for that time j but 
though they are now as true as they were then, yet, since we 
have no commerce either with Jews or Gentiles, we cannot 
say that it is as necessary for the present time to dwell much 
on those matters, as it was for that time to explain them once 
well. If the nation should come to be quite out of the danger 
of falling back into popery, it would not be so necessary to 
insist upon many of the subjects of the Homilies, as it was 
when they were first prepared. 



rfgLrOflT 

it Q-gB ddi 

■^■:4ood 



■■'■^t }o 'm^W'"' 

to SOTO ,bflif0d ^ '1 

-re" M hi - ■ ■ - ^ 

jjjd ■; fiTL^ B oi jri iood a asw 
• • oi 9xri* 3£dl :ts ^{lagasoi^ii 
ryd .s -os-di. sex/ isd'i'g io _8s;f 
? gY^wk _ed ianfli 
^:d.t' ^-j Y^ia890dK -ara^a 



m 



X^Wk ^^^^ "® '^^^^ TOnnoa qorfgiS dood srfl i^kt gsaffio 

bsYh'jQi 6mBa id ^orr ksw bim ^Qmii g^ti^M nssup m honmsb 
'iio'j Uii8 g£w ^KTl6L#%J?^^K''^*9''J^sHa nsanp ni 

^d^^cteorof ^fsS^pf 4lid Ministers. ^^,^^5^^ 

^ °}^^§tikB^ fecacoiiiJ, lately set fortl; m tlje Cime ot 
.«.Jjffi§iflteM^^^I»i^"^ conftrmcti at tijz ^mu €imt hv ^n^ovit^ 
MhW^Wm^Ukf^ xoiit,4ui all ^Woi^ mct^smj to Sucl^ €m<St^ 
MMtmi^A^mT^imitl^\k^t^)<it m^ Zl^ingi tijat of it^^elf ijS; 
b!g«|ia9iittta^^aisiiJ ttnga^l|). ' MvLts^^^mUivtM)o^otbtv mfymtf^ 

^ecotttr ^ear of ^t^^JirtiteiisJi^ieiB Etncj Edward ttnto t]^i^ Wmmfml 
Mwmttt 4i)UXW((l^v^mi^U^^^^^ accoi't^mg t^j t]^j sitne 

Ymft^^i*^i&Mif"^8# 'sxt4'''t^''bmif}t% ^^vmiij;mfmmn\w 

^8 ixroFfBG ijjo io ibtow moil mla^ m ii oa ^^blo bibst bsibnxfrf 

Ag^fo^^^^l^eJ'iflp?^^^^^ of this Article, tbey- V^re 

^I'kady^exfffliiWfe^^ the pretended sacrament of ord^r's| 

was explairiyd^r^V^ere it was proved, that prayer and 
i^idn of hands ^^%aS all that was necessary to the giving -ot- 
the Roman Pontifical are 
necessary, since the church 
those were thought oil, 
>d that either our ordinations without those additions are 
gjdbd : or the church of God was for many ages without true 
oiVlers. There seems to be here insinuated a ratification of 
o!rders that were given before this Article was made; which 
b^ing (lone (as the lawyers phrase it) ea; post facto, it seems 
t&se orders were unlawful when given, and that error was 
intended to be corrected by this Article. The opening a part 
of the history of that time will clear this matter. 

'^here Was a new form of ordinations agreed on by the 
bishops in the third year of king Edward; and when the 
book of Common-Prayer, with the last corrections of it, was 
authorized by act of parliament in the fifth year of that reign, 
the new book of Ordinations was also enacted, and was 
appointed to be a part of the Common-Prayer-Book. In 
queen Mary^s time these acts were repealed, and those books 
were condemned by name. When queen Elizabeth came to 
the crown, king Edward's Common-Prayer-Book was of new 
enacted, and queen Mary's act was repealed. But the book 
of Ordination was not expressly named, it being considered 
as a part of the Common-Prayer-Book, as it had been made 
in king Edward's time; so it was thought no more necessary 
to mention that office by name, than to mention all the other 




offices that are in the book. Bishop Bonner set on foot a 
nicety, that since the book of Ordinations was by name con- . 
demned in queen Mary^s time, and was not by name received 
in queen Elizabeth'sj^^^l ^haj^ J;h^f%^ it was still con- 
demned by law, and that oy consequence ordinations per- 
formed ac^.,Qr|iingj,ytQ this b9ok| it is 
visible, that whatsoever 'm%iit"{)e made oiit of ihis, according 
to, fh^ niceties of. our law, it has no relation to the validity o^ 
ordinations, as they are sacred performances, but only as they' 
are le^l action^j with relation to our constitution. Thei^- 
fM'e a declaration- was made in a sul^sequent parliament, tliat 
the book of Ordination was considered as a part'-df thc'^cJSk 
of Gomnion-PrayeT:' and, to clear all scruples ^/TOputi^^fcklat 
mtgteafise'^pori'that matter^ ^tfcey by ;a^!retl^osp©©feid«ci?iifed 
t^nDito bi3;^oid;l.artd:; from (that ^tiUosip&cUjm^th^ ^ Ofjpar- 
lmn^ea»QI;b^iiikBij8l«b^€^^%^# mntk^ AUkh-i^ iM^J tJ«iaii€ 




ifi,iA.fi9n.|titutin§ Waj)mt3£S^J|}e^g^^^ 
that IS too bo 4 and,^^^j^g^^^|^^^(yij^j;g|^^|^ 

Ghost, ^ To this It ' ' 

ordination, tha^^p^r^cfewcWj^^^; 

appoMtiiin. .iew|o^^|,,ft^/^ofes J^v^c^^^^ MW^^^iodto 
several functions ,^^^.^mi|^tm^^^ Miffis^ ffiM»5|) 
areap: the apo^I^^^d.lp W^^^^ 
all of them trora the apostles i^WW%mBk^%%^r 
we may then reckon that %efcj^|^^^^ 
lower degree, is given to those ^^^o^a^ i^Ys^^%jh 
God to undertake that holy office. ,,.pj>| tfli^^Jlt 
traordinary efFusion that was poured out upon the apostles^ I 
was in them in a much higher degree, and was acqompanied y 
with most amazing characters; yet still such as do sincerely 
offer themselves up, on a divine motion, to this service, 
receive a lower portion of this Spirit. That being laid down, 
these words, ^ Receive the Holy Ghost,' may be understood 
to be of the nature of a wish and prayer; as if it were said, 
^ May thou receive the Holy Ghost f and so it will better 
agree with what follows, ^ And be thou a faithful dispenser of 
the word and sacraments.' Or it may be observed, that in 
those sacred missions the church and churchmen consider 
themselves as acting in the name and person of Christ. In 
baptism it is expressly said, '^I baptize in the name of the 
Father/ &c. In the eucharist we repeat the words of Christ, 



49G 



AN EXPOSITION OF 



A R T. and apply them to the elements, as said by him. So we con- 
XXXVI. sider such as deserve to be admitted to those holy functions, 
as persons called and sent of God ; and therefore the church 
in the name of Christ sends them ; and because he gives a 
portion of his Spirit to those whom he sends, therefore the 
church in his name says, ' Receive the Holy Ghost/ And in 
this sense, and with this respect, the use of these words may 
be well justified. 



THE XXXIX ARTICLES. 



497 



ART. 
XXXVII. 

ARTICLE XXXVII. 

Of Civil Magistrates. 

tlTijc (J^urni*^ ^Hajcs'ti) i)att) tt)t d)id ^obitv in t\)i^ IRcalm of Eng- 
land, nnti otljci* i)tv 2Bonunton^, xnxtitx lufiom t\)t c\)id (^obtnt? 
mtnt of all iEs'tatc:^ of t\)i^ J^calm, lui^etljtr ti)tv ht ificcU^ia^tical 
or CiJjiT, in all Cau^e^ Hotl; appntaut, mti t£i not, nor oug]^t to 
htf ^libjut to any dFortign ^uri^lltctton. 

OTljtrt hit attribute to tl;t Queen's! ^Kajcsitp tf)t d\iti (^obnniment, 
hv M)icl) Citlesi bit untrcr^tantJ ti)t ^HtnU^ of siomc ^lantJtrou^ 
dfolfe^g to ht offmtetJ : 2Me gibe not to our Princt^ t\)t mmi^^tmng 
ntl;a: of <^otJ'^ OTortl or of t^t ^acramcnt^ ; t])t hil)u\) tijmg tf^t 
injunctions also lately Set fortlj h^ Elizabeth our (Gluten tio most 
plainly teStifi) ; but t]^at only prerogative h)i)ui) hit See to l)aht 
been gtben alluayS to all gotJly iSrinceS in l^olp Scriptures by 
<^otJ rtjflt ^6^^^ 1^*1? Sljoultl rule all Estates anU Bt^ 

greeS committetl to tljeir cljarge by (^otf, tol;etl)er tljey be eccle- 
siastical or Cemporal, antJ restrain hiit)) ti)t €ihil ^hioxH t^t 
Stubborn anlJ ebil^tJoerS. 

€^l)e 53iS]^op of Rome l)atl) no SiuriStJiction in tl)iS i^ealm of Eng- 
land. 

CJf HaioS of t^e 2Realm may punis]^ Cl^ristian p[en feitl) iieatl) for 

i^einouS antJ griebouS (l^lfenceS. 
it is labjful for Christian fiten, at tl)t Commandment of tl)e fHa^^ 

gistrate, to bear ineapons, antJ Serbe in tt)t Wavs, 

This Article was much shorter as it was published in king 
Edward's time^ and did run thus : The king of England is su- 
preme head in earth, newt under Christ, of the church of Eng- 
land and Ireland. Then followed the paragraph against the 
pope's jurisdiction, worded as it is now: to which these words 
were subjoined. The civil magistrate is ordained and allowed 
of God; wherefore we must obey him, not only for fear of 
punishment, but also for conscience sake. In queen Elizabeth's 
time it was thought fitting to take away those prejudices that 
the papists were generally infusing into the minds of the 
people against the term head ; which seemed to be the more 
incongruous, because a woman did then reign ; therefore that 
was left out, and instead of it the words chief poiver and chief 
government were made use of, which do signify the same 
thing. 

The queen did also by her Injunctions offer an explanation 
of this matter; for whereas it was given out by those who 
had complied with every thing that had been done both in 
her father's and in her brother's time, but that resolved now 

2 K 



498 



AN EXPOSITION OF 



A R T. to set themselves in opposition to her, that she was assuming 
.XXVII. ^ rnuch greater authority than they had pretended to : she 
upon that ordered that explanation which is referred to in the 
Article, and is in these words: 'For certainly her majesty 
neither doth nor ever will challenge any authority, other than 
that was challenged and lately used by the said noble kings 
of famous memory, king Henry the Eighth, and king Edward 
the Sixth, which is and was of ancient time due to the impe- 
rial crown of this realm; that is, under God to have the 
sovereignty and rule over all manner of persons born within 
these her realms, dominions, and countries, of what estate, 
either ecclesiastical or temporal, soever they be: so as no 
other foreign power shall or ought to have any superiority 
over them. iWd if any person that hath conceived any other 
sense of the said oath, shall accept the same oatb with this 
interpretation, sense, or meaning, her majesty is well pleased 
to accept every sucli in that behalf, as her good and obedient 
subjects; and shall acguit them of all manner of penalties, 
contained in the said act, against such as shall peremptorily 
and obstinately refuse to take the same oath.^ 

Thus this matter is opened, as it is both in the Article and 
in the Injunctions. In order to the treating regularly of this 
Article, it is, first, to be proved that the pope bath no juris- 
diction in these kingdoms. 2dly, That our kings or queens ; 
have it. And, 3dly, The nature and measures of this power 
and government are to be stated. 

As for the pope's authority, though it is now connected 
with infallibility, yet it was pretended to, and was advanced 
for many ages he(ove m/aUihility \YdiS so much as thought on. 
Nor W3.S tke doctrine of their infallibihty ever so universally 
received and submitted to in these est ern parts as was that 
of their universal jurisdiction. They. Vv^ere in possession of it: 
appeals were made to them: they sent legates and bulls every 
where : they granted exemptions from tlie ordinary juris- 
diction ; and tvook bishops bouna to them by oaths, that were 
penned in the form of oaths of /ea//?/ or homage. This was 
theofirst point that our reformers did begin with, both here 
and ey^yy where else ; that so they might remove tha:t which 
wa^ £^iVj insuperable obstruetion, till it was first taken out of 
the way,? to every step that could be made toward a reform- 
ation. , They laid down therefore this for their foundation, 
that all bishops were by their office and character equal ; and 
tha,t every one of them had the same authority that any other 
had i over that flock which was committed to his care : and 
therefore they said, that the bishop s of Home had no authority, 
according to the constitution in which the churches were set- 
tled by the apostles, but over the city of Rome : and that any 
further jurisdiction that any ancient popes might have had, 
did arise from the dignity of the city, and the customs and 



THE XXXIX ARTICLES. 



499 



laws of the empire.'^ As for their deriving that authority from ART 
St. Peter, it is very plain that the apostles were all made 
equal to him ; and that they never understood our Saviour's 
words to him, as importing any authority that was given to 
him over the rest ; since they continued to the last, while our 
Saviour was among them, ^ disputing which of them should be Markix. 
the greatest.^ The proposition that the mother of James and ^^ke^xxii 
John made, in which it is evident that they likewise con- 2?'!'^" 
curred with her, shews that they did not apprehend that Matt. xx. 
Christ had made any declaration in favour of St. Peter, as by 2i»24, 26. 
our Sa^dour's answer it appears that he had not done ; other- 
wise he would have referred them to what he had already said 
upon that occasion. By the whole history of the Acts of the 
Apostles, it appears that the apostles acted and consulted in 
common, without considering St. Peter as having any supe- 
riority over them. He was called to give an account of his 
baptizing Cornelius ; and he delivered his opinion in the Acts xi. 2, 
council of Jerusalem, without any strain of authority over the 3. 
rest. St, Paul does expressly deny, that the other apostles jg^* ^' 
had any superiority or jurisdiction over him; and he says m Gal. ii. 7, 
plain words, that ^he was the apostle of the un circumcision, 8, 11. 
as St. Peter was the apostle of the circumcision f and in that 
does rather claim an advantage over him ; since his was cer- 
tainly the much wider province. He \\ithstood St. Peter to 
his face, when he thought that he deserved to be blamed ; 
and he speaks of his own line imd share, as being subordinate 
in it to none : and by his sa^dng, that * he did not stretch 2 Cor. x. 
himself beyond his own measure,* he plainly insinuates, that 
within his own province he was only accountable to Him that 
had called and sent him. This was also the sense of the pri- 
mitive church, that all bishops were brethren, colleagues, and 
felloiu-bishops : and though the dignity of that city, which was 
the head of the empire, and the opinion of that church's being 
founded by St. Peter and St. Paul, created a great respect to 
the bishops of that see, which was supported and increased 
by the eminent worth, as Well as the frequent martyrdoms, of 
their bishops ; yet St. Cyprian in his time, as he was against 
the suffering of any causes to be carried in the way of a com- 
plaint for redress to Rome, so he does in plain words say, that 
^ all the apostles were equal in power ; and that all bishops De Unit, 
were also equal ; since the whole office and episcopate was Eccles. 
one entire thing, of which every bishop had a complete and 
equal share.' It is true, he speaks of the unity of the Roman 
church, and of the union of other churches with it ; but those 
words were occasioned by a schism that Novatian had made 
then at Rome ; he being elected in opposition to the rightful 
bishop : so that St. C^rprian does not insinuate any thing con- 
cerning an authority of the see of Rome over other sees, but 

* The reader ought to study Barrow's ' Treatise of the Pope's Supremacy,' in 
which that great -writer has exhausted this subject. — LEt>.] 

2k2 



500 



AN EXPOSITION OF 



A H T. speaks only of their union under one bishop ; and of the 
XXXVII. other churches holding a brotherly communion with that 
bishop. Through his whole epistles he treats the bishops of 
Rome as his equals^ with the titles of brother and colleague. 
Cone. Nic. In the first general council, the authority of the bishops of 
can. 6. great sees is stated as equal. The bishops of Alexandria 

and Antioch are declared to have, according to custom, the 
same authority over the churches subordinate to them, that , 
the bishops of Rome had over those that lay about that city. 
This authority is pretended to be derived only from custom^ 
and is considered as under the limitations and decisions of a 
^ general council. Soon after that, the Arian heresy was so 
spread over the east, that those who adhered to the Nicene 
faith, were not safe in their numbers; and the western 
churches being free from that contagion, (though St. Basil 
laments that they neither understood their matters, nor were 
much concerned about them, but were swelled up with pride,) 
Athanasius and other oppressed bishops fled to the bishops 
of Rome, as well as to the other bishops of the west; it being 
natural for the oppressed to seek protection wheresoever they 
can find it : and so a sort of appeals was begun, and they were 
Con. Sard, authorized by the council of Sardica. But the ill eff'ects of 
cTon '^Con should become a precedent, were apprehended by 

stant. can' the second general council ; in which it was decreed, that 
3. every province should be governed by its own synod; and 

that all bishops should be at first judged by the bishops of 
their own province ; and from them an appeal was allowed 
to the bishops of the diocese ; whereas by the canons of Nice 
no appeal lay from the bishops of the province. But though 
this canon of Constantinople allows of an appeal to the 
bishops of every such division of the Roman empire as was 
known by the name of diocese; yet there is an express pro- 
hibition of any other or further appeal ; which is a plain 
repealing of the canon at Sardica. And in that same council 
it appears upon what the dignity of the see of Rome was then 
believed to be founded ; for Constantinople being made the 
seat of the empire, and called new Rome, the bishops of that 
see had the same privileges given them, that the bishops 
of old Rome had ; except only the point of rank, which was 
preserved to old Rome, because of the dignity of the city. 
Con. Chal- This was also confirmed at Chalcedon in the middle of the 
ce . can. century. This shews, that the authority and privileges 

Labb. and of the bishops of Rome were then considered as arising out 
Coss. vol. of the dignity of that city, and that the order of them was 

' subject to the authority of a general council. 
Afr^c ca African churches in that time knew nothing of any 

lOL *et ^* superiority that the bishops of Rome had over them : they 
105. Epist. condemned the making of appeals to them, and appointed 
ef C^rlr* such as made them should be excommunicated. The 
Labb. and P^pes, who laid that matter much to heart, did not pretend 



THE XXXIX ARTICLES. 



501 



to an universal jurisdiction as St. Peter's successors by a ART. 
divine right : tliey only pleaded a canon of the council of ^XXVII. 
Nice ; but the Africans had heard of no such canon^ and so coss. vol. 
they justified their independence on the see of Rome. Great iii. p. 528, 
search was made after this canon, and it was found to be an 
imposture. So early did the see of Rome aspire to this 
universal authority, and did not stick at forgery in order to 
the compassing of it. In the sixth century, when the emperor 
Mauritiu's continued a practice begun by some former em- Greg. Ep. 
perors, to give the bishop of Constantinople the title 0^32*34^3^6 
universal bishop ; Pelage, and after him Gregory the Great, ^s, 39.' ' 
broke out into the most pathetical expressions that could be lib. vi. Ep. 
invented against it ; he compared it to the pride of Xiucifer ; 
and said, that he ivho assumed it was the forerunner of anti- Xih. vii'. 
Christ ; and as he renounced all claim to it, so he affirmed Ep. 69. 
that none<^'6f his .predecessors had ever aspired to such a 
power. ^ '^^'^F^^^" 

This is the more remarkable, because the Saxons being 
converted to the Christian religion under this pope^s direc- 
tion,^ have reason to believe that this doctrine was infused 
into this church at the first conversion of the Saxons : yet 
pope Gregory^s successor made no exceptions to the giving 
himself that title, against which his predecessor had de- 
claimed so rnuch : but then the confusions of Italy gave the 
popes great advantages to make all new invaders or pretenders 
enlarge their privileges; since it was a great accession of 
strength to any party to have them of their side. The kings 
of the Lombards began to lie heavy on them ; but they 
called in the kings of a new conquering family frOm France, 
who were ready enough to make new conquests ; and when 
the nomination of the popes was given to the kings of that 
race, it was natural for them to raise the greatness of one 
who was to be their creature; so they promoted their autho- 
rity ; which was not a little confirmed by an impudent forgery 
of that time of the Decretal Epistles af the first popes ; in 
which they were represented as governing the world with an 
universal and unbounded authority. This book was a little 
disputed at first, but was quickly submitted to; and the popes 
went on upon that foundation, still enlarging their pretensions. 
Soon after that was submitted to, it quickly appeared that the 
pretensions of that see were endless. 

They went on to claim a power over princes and their do- 
minions ; and that first with relation to spiritual matters. 
They deposed them, if they were either heretics themselves, 
or if they favoured heresy, at least so far as not to extirpate 
it. From deposing they went to the disposing of their do- 
minions to others ; and at last Boniface the Eighth completed 
their claim; for he decreed, that it ivas necessary for every 
man to be subject to the pope\s authority : and he asserted a 
direct dominion over princes as to their temporals, that they 



502 



AN EXPOSITION OF 



A RT. were all subject to him, and held their dominions under him, 
XXXVII . cj^^d i^jg courtesy. As for the jurisdiction that they claimed 
over the spiritualty, they exercised it with that rigour, with 
such heavy taxes and impositions, such exemptions and dis- 
pensations, and such a violation of all the ancient canons, that 
as it grew insupportably grievous, so the management was 
grossly scandalous, for every thing was openly set to sale. By 
these practices they disposed the world to examine the grounds 
of that authority, which was managed with so much tyranny 
and corruption. It was so ill founded, that it could not be de- 
fended but by force and artifices. Thus it appears, that there 
is no authority at all in the scripture for this extent of juris- 
diction that the popes assumed: that it was not thought on 
in the first ages: that a vigorous opposition was made to 
every step of the progress that it made : and that forgery and 
violence were used to bring the world under it. So that there 
is no reason now to submit to it. 

As for the patriarchal authority, which that see had over a 
great part of the Roman empire, that was only a regulation 
made conform to the constitution of that empire : so that the 
empire being now dissolved into many different sovereignties, 
the new princes are under no sort of obligation to have any 
regard to the Roman constitution : nor does a nation^s receiv- 
ing the faith by the ministry of men sent from any see, 
subject them to that see ; for then all must be subject to Je- 
rusalem, since the gospel came to all the churches from 
thence. There was a decision made in the third general 
council in the case of the Cypriotic churches, which pretended 
that they had been always complete churches within them- 
selves and independent; therefore they stood upon this 
privilege, not to be subject to appeals to any patriarchal see. 
The council judged in their favour. So since the Britannic 
churches were converted long before they had any commerce 
with Rome, they were originally independent; which could 
not be lost by any thing that was afterwards done among the 
Saxons, by men sent over from Rome. This is enough to 
prove the first point, that the bishops of Rome had no lawful 
jurisdiction here among us. 

The second is, that kings or queens have an authority over 
their subjects in matters ecclesiastical. In the Old Testament, 
the kings of Israel intermeddled in all matters of rehgion: 
1 Sam. XV. Samuel acknowledged SauFs authority; and Abimelech, 
so. xxii. ^i^Qug]^ j^Y^Q Yiigii priest, when called before Saul, appeared 
and answered to some things that were objected to him that 
related to the worship of God. Samuel said in express words 
XV. 17. to Saul, that ^he was made the head of all the tribes;^ and 
one of these was the tribe of Levi. David made many laws 
about sacred matters, such as the orders of the courses of the 
priests, and the time of their attendance at the public service. 
When lie died, and was informing Solomon of the extent of 



THE XXXIX ARTICLES. 



503 



his authority, he told him, that ' the courses of the priests and ART. 

• - "V "V V "XT' T T 

all the people were to be wholly at his commandment. Pur- ____* 
suant to which, Solomon did appoint them their charges in i chron. 
the service of God; and ^both the priests and Levites de-xxiii.6. 
parted not from his commandment in any matter.^ He 2'chron^ 
turned out Abiathar from the high priest's office, and yet no viii.14, 15. 
complaint was made upon it, as if he had assumed an autho- 
rity that did not belong to him. It is true, both David and 
Solomon were men that were particularly inspired as to some 
things ; but it does not appear that they acted in those mat- 
ters by virtue of any such inspiration. They were acts of 
regal power, and they did them in that capacity. Jehosha- 2 Chron. 
phat, Hezekiah, and Josiah, gave many directions and orders ^{^"j^^'g^"^^ 
in sacred matters : but though the priests withstood Uzziah ^^'^ ^^^^^ 
when he was going to offer incense in the holy place, yet they xxvi. 16— 
did not pretend privilege, or make opposition to those orders 19. 
that were issued out by their kings. Mordecai appointed the 
feast of Purim, by virtue of the authority that king Ahasuerus 
gave him : and both Ezra and Nehemiah, by virtue of com- 
missions from the kings of Persia, made many reformations 
and gave many orders in sacred matters. 

Under the New Testament, Christ, by saying, ^ Render to 
Ceesar the things which are Ceesar's,' did plainly shew, that 
he did not intend that his religion should in any sort lessen 
the temporal authority. The apostles writ to the churches 
to obey magistrates, to submit to them, and to pay taxes 
they enjoined obedience, ^ whether to the king as supreme, Ver, 1. 
or to others that were sent by him ^ every soul,' without iPet.ii.l3, 
exception, is charged ^ to be subject to the higher powers.' 
The magistrate is ordained of God, and ^ is his minister to 
encourage them that do well, and to punish the evil doers.' 
If these passages of scripture are to be interpreted according 
to the common consent of the fathers, churchmen are included 
within them, as well as other persons. There was not indeed 
great occasion to consider this matter before Constantine's 
coming to the empire; for till then the emperors did not 
consider the Christians otherwise than either as enemies, or 
at best as their subjects at large : and therefore, though the 
Christians made an address to Aurelian in the matter of 
Samosatenus, and obtained a faA^ourable and just answer to 
it ; yet in Constantine's time, the protection that he gave to 
the Christian religion led him and his successors to make 
many laws in ecclesiastical matters, concerning the age, the 
qualifications, and the duties, of the clergy. Many of these 
are to be found in Theodosius and Justinian's code : Justinian 
added many more in his Novels. Appeals were made to the 
emperors against the injustice of synods: they received them, 
and appointed such bishops to hear and try those causes as 
happened to be then about their courts. In the council of 
Nice many complaints were given to the emperor by the 



504 



AN EXPOSITION OF 



A RT. bishops against one another. The emperors called general 
XXXVII. councils by their summons; they sate in them, and confirmed 
their decrees. This was the constant practice of the Roman 
emperors, both in the east and in the west : when the church 
came to fall under many lesser sovereignties, those princes 
continued still to make laws, to name bishops, to give inves- 
titures into benefices, to call synods, and to do every thing 
that appeared necessary to them, for the good government of 
the church in their dominions. 

When Charles the Great was restoring those things that 
had fallen under much disorder in a course of some ignorant 
and barbarous ages, and was reviving both learning and good 
government, he published many Capitulars, a great part of 
them relating to ecclesiastical matters; nor was any exception 
taken to that in those ages : the synods that were then held 
were for the greatest part mixed assemblies, in which the 
temporalty and the spiritualty sate together, and judged and 
decreed of all matters in common. And it is certain, that 
such was the sanhedrim among the Jews in our Saviour's 
time; it was the supreme court both for spirituals and 
temporals. 

In England our princes began early, and continued long, 
to maintain this part of their authority. The letters that are 
pretended to have passed between king Lucius and pope 
Eleutherius are very probably forgeries ; but they are ancient 
ones, and did for many ages pass for true. Now a forgery is 
generally calculated to the sense of the age in which it is 
made. In the pope's letter, the King is called God^s vicar in 
his kingdoms ; and it is said to belong to his office, to bring his 
subjects to the holy church, and to maintain, protect, and 
govern them in it. Both Saxon and Danish kings made a 
great many laws about ecclesiastical matters ; and after the 
conquest, when the nation grew into a more united body, and 
came to a more settled constitution, many laws were made 
concerning these matters, particularly in opposition to those 
practices that favoured the authority that the popes were then 
assuming ; such as appeals to Rome, or bishops going out of 
the kingdom without the king's leave. King Alfred's laws 
were a sort of a text for a great while ; they contain many 
laws about sacred matters. The exempting of monasteries 
from episcopal jurisdiction was granted by some of our kings 
at first. William the Conqueror, to perpetuate the memory 
of his victory over Harold, and to endear himself to the 
clergy, founded an abbey in the field where the battle was 
fought, called Battle-Abbey : and in the charter of the foun- 
dation, in imitation of what former kings had done in their 
endowments, this clause was put ; // shall be also free and 
quiet for ever from all subjection to bishops, or the dominion of 
any other persons. This is an act that does as immediately 
relate to the authority of the church, as any one that we can 



THE XXXIX ARTICLES. 



505 



imagine. The Constitutions of Clarendon were asserted by ART. 
both king and parhament, and by the whole body of the XXXVT 
clergy, as the ancient customs of the kingdom. These relate to 
the clerg}^, and were submitted to by them all, Becket himself 
not excepted, though he quickly went off from it. 

It is true, the papacy got generally the better of the tem- 
poral authority in a course of several ages ; but at last the 
popes hving long at Avignon, together with the great schism 
that followed upon their return to Rome, did very much sink 
in their credit, and that stopped the progress they had made 
before that time : which had probabl)^ subdued all, if it had 
not been for those accidents. Then the councils began to 
take heart, and resolved to assert the freedom of the church 
from the papal tyranny. Vragmatic sanctions were made in 
several nations to assert their liberty. That in France was 
made vA\h great solemnity : in these the bishops did not only 
assert their own jurisdiction, independent in a great measure 
of the papacy, but they likewise carried it so far as to make 
themselves independent on the civil authority, particularly in 
the point of elections. This disposed princes generally to 
enter into agreements with the popes ; by which the matter 
was so transacted, that the popes and they made a division 
between them of all the rights and pretensions of the church. 
Princes pelded a great deal to the popes, to be protected by 
them in that which they got to be reserved to themselves. 
Great restraints were laid both on the clergy, and likewise on 
the see of Rome, by the appeals that were brought into the 
secular courts, from the ordinary judgments of the ecclesias- 
tical courts, or from the buUs or powders that legates brought 
with them. A distinction was found that seemed to save the 
ecclesiastical authority, at the same time that the secular 
court was made the judge of it. The appeal did lie upon a 
pretence that the ecclesiastical judge had committed some 
abuse in the way of proceeding, or in his sentence. So the 
appeal was from that abuse, and the secular court was to 
examine the matter according to the rules and laws of the 
church, and not according to the principles or rules of any 
other law : but upon that they did either confirm or reverse the 
sentence. And even those princes that acknowledge the papal 
authority, have found out distinctions to put such stops to it 
as they please ; and so to make it an engine to govern their 
people by, as far as they think fit to give way to it ; and to 
damn such bulls, or void such powers, as they are afraid of. 

Thus it is evident, that both according to scripture, and the 
practice of all ages and countries, the princes of Christendom 
have an authority over their subjects in matters ecclesiastical. 
The reason of things makes also for this ; for if any rank of 
men are exempted from their jurisdiction, they must thereby 
cease to be subjects : and if any sort of causes, spiritual ones 
in particular, were put out of their authority, it were an easy 



506 



AN EXPOSITION OF 



A R T. thing to reduce almost every thing to such a relation to spi- 
CXXVII . rituals, that if this principle were once received^ their autho- 
rity would be very precarious and feeble. Nothing could give 
princes stronger and juster prejudices against the Christian 
religion^ than if they saw that the effect of their receiving it 
must be the withdrawing so great a part of their subjects from 
their authority ; and the putting as many checks upon it as 
those that had the management of this religion should think 
fit to restrain it by. In a word^ all mankind must be under 
one obedience and one authority. It remains that the mea- 
sures and the extent of this power be rightly stated. 

It is certain^ firsts that this power does not depend upon 
the princess religion ; whether he is a Christian, or not ; or 
whether he is of a true or a false religion : or is a good or a 
bad man. By the same tenure that he holds his sovereignty, 
he holds this likewise. Artaxerxes had it as well as either 
David or Solomon, when the Jews were once lawfully his 
subjects ; and the Christians owed the same duty to the em- 
perors while heathen, that they paid them when Christian. 
The relations of nature, such as that of a parent and child, 
husband and loife, continue the same that they were, whatso- 
ever men^s persuasions in matters of religion may be : so do 
also civil relations, master and servant, prince and subject : 
they are neither increased nor diminished by the truth of 
their sentiments concerning religion. All persons are subject 
to the prince's authority, and liable to such punishments as 
their crimes fall under by law. ' Every soul is subject to the 
higher powers neither is treason less treason, because spoke 
in a pulpit or in a sermon : it may be more treason for that 
than otherwise it would be, because it is so public and delibe- 
rate, and is delivered in the way in which it may probably 
have the worst effect. So that, as to persons, no great diffi- 
culty can lie in this, since ^ every souP is declared to be 
^subject to the higher powers.^ 

As to ecclesiastical causes, it is certain, that as the magis- 
trate cannot make void the laws of nature, such as the 
authority of parents over their children, or of husbands over 
their wives, so neither can he make void the law of God: 
that is from a superior authority, and cannot be dissolved by 
him. Where a thing is positively commanded or forbid by 
God, the magistrate has no other authority but that of exe- 
cuting the laws of God, of adding his sanctions to them, and 
of using his utmost industry to procure obedience to them. 
He cannot alter any part of the doctrine, and make it to be 
either truer or falser than it is in itself; nor can he either 
take away or alter the sacraments, or break any of those rules 
that are given in the New Testament about them ; because in 
all these the authority of God is express, and is certainly 
superior to his. The only question that can be made, is con- 
cerning indifferent things : for instance, in the canons or 



THE XXXIX ARTICLES. 



507 



other rules of the churchy how far they are in the magistrate's ART. 
power^ and in what cases the body of Cliristians^ and of the XXJCVI 
pastors of the church_, may maintain their union among them- 
selves^ and act in opposition to his laws. It seems very clear^ 
that in all matters that are indifferent;, and are determined by 
no law of God;, the magistrate's authority must take place, 
and is to be obeyed. The church has no authority that she 
can maintain in opposition to the magistrate, but in the exe- 
cuting the laws of God and the rules of the gospel : in all 
other things, as she acts under his protection, so it is by his 
permission. But here a great distinction is to be made be- 
tween two cases that may happen : the one is, when the 
magistrate acts like one that intends to preserve reHgion, but 
commits errors and acts of injustice in his management ; the 
other is, when he acts like one that intends to destroy reli- 
gion, and to divide and distract those that profess it. In the 
former case, every thing that is not sinful of itself, is to be 
done in comphance with his authority ; not to give him um- 
brage, nor provoke him to withdraw his protection, and to 
become, instead of a nursing father, a persecutor of the 
church. But on the other hand, when he declares, or it is 
visible, that his design is to destroy the faith, less regard is to 
be had to his actions. The people may adhere to their pas- 
tors, and to every method that may fortify them in their 
rehgion, even in opposition to his invasion. Upon the whole 
matter, the power of the king in ecclesiastical matters among 
us is expressed in this Article under those reserves, and with 
that moderation, that no just scruple can lie against it; and it 
is that which all the kings, even of the Roman communion, 
do assume, and in some places with a much more unlimited 
authority. The methods of managing it may differ a little ; 
yet the power is the same, and is built upon the same founda- 
tions. And though the term head is left out by the Article, 
yet even that is founded on an expression of SamueFs to 
Saul, as was formerly cited. It is a figure, and all figures 
may be used either more loosely or more strictly. In the 
strictest sense, as the head communicates vital influences to 
the whole body, Christ is the only head of his church ; he 
only ought to be in all things obeyed, submitted to, and de- 
pended on ; and from him all the functions and offices of the 
church derive their usefulness and virtue. But as head may 
in a figure stand for the fountain of order and government, of 
protection and conduct, the king or queen may well be called 
the head of the church. 

The next paragraph in this Article is concerning the law- 
fulness of capital punishments in Christian societies. It has 
an appearance of compassion and charity, to think that men 
ought not to be put to death for their crimes, but to be kept 
ahve, that they may repent of them. Some, both ancients 
and moderns, have thought that there was a crueltv in all 



508 



AN EXPOSITION OF 



ART. capital punishments that was inconsistent with the gentleness 
.XXV II. Q,£ gospel ; but when we consider that God, in that law 
~ which he himself delivered to the Jews by the hand of Moses, 
did appoint so many capital punishments, even for offences 
against positive precepts, we cannot think that these are con- 
trary to justice or true goodness ; since they were dictated by 
God himself, who is eternally the same, unalterable in his 
perfections. This shews that God, who knows most perfectly 
our frame and disposition, knows that the love of life is 
planted so deep in our natures, and that it has such a root 
there, that nothing can work so powerfully on us, to govern 
and restrain us, as the fear of death. And therefore, since the 
main thing that is to be considered in government is the 
good of the whole body; and since a feeble indulgence and 
impunity may set mankind loose into great disorders, from 
which the terror of severer laws, together with such examples 
as are made on the incorrigible, wiU naturally restrain them ; 
it seems necessary, for the preservation of mankind and of 
society, to have recourse sometimes to capital punishments. 

The precedent that God set in the Mosaical law seems a 
full justification of such punishments under the gospel. The 
charity, which the gospel prescribes, does not take away the 
rules €f justice and equity, by which we may maintain our 
possessions, or recover them out of the hands of violent ag- 
gressors : only it obliges us to do that in a soft and gentle 
manner, without rigour or resentment. The same charity, 
though it obliges us, as Christians, not to keep up hatred or 
anger in our hearts, but to pardon, as to our own parts, the 
wrongs that are done us ; yet it does not oblige us to throw 
up the order and peace of mankind, and abandon it to the 
injustice and violence of wicked men. We owe to human 
society, and to the safety and order of the world, our endea- 
vours to put a stop to the wickedness of men ; which a good 
man may do with great inward tenderness to the souls of 
those whom he prosecutes. It is highly probable, that as 
nothing besides such a method could stop the progress of in- 
justice and wickedness, so nothing is so likely a mean to bring 
the criminal to repent of his sins, and to fit him to die as a 
Christian, as to condemn him to die for his crimes ; if any 
thing can awaken his conscience, and strike terror in him, that 
will do it. Therefore, as capital punishments are necessary 
to human society, so they are often real blessings to those on 
whom they fall; and it may be affirmed very positively, that a 
man who can harden himself against the terrors of death, 
when they come upon him so solemnly, so slowly, and so 
certainly, he being in full health, and well able to reflect on 
the consequences of it, is not like to be wrought on by a 
longer continuance of life, or by the methods of a natural 
death. 

It is not possible to fix rules, to which capital punishments 



THE XXXIX ARTICLES. 



509 



ought to be proportioned. It is certain, that, in a fall ART. 
equality, life only can be set against life: but there may be 
many other crimes, that must end in the ruin of society, and 
in the dissolution of all order, and all the commerce that 
ought to be among men, if they go unpunished. In this all 
princes and states must judge according to the real exigencies 
and necessities that appear to them. Nor can any general rule 
be made, save only this, that since man was made after the 
image of God, and that the life of man is precious, and when 
once extinguished it ceases for evermore; therefore all due 
care and tenderness ought to be had in preserving it ; and 
since the end of government is the preservation of mankind, 
therefore the lives of men ought not to be too lightly taken, 
except as it appears to be necessary for the preservation and 
safety of the society. 

Under the Gospel, as well as under the Law, the magistrate 
is the ^minister of God,^ and has the sword put in his hand; l^om. xiii. 
which ^ he beareth not in vain,^ for he is appointed to be a ^' 
revenger, to execute wrath on him that doeth evil.' The 
natural signification of his carrying the sword is, that he has 
an authority for punishing capitally ; since it is upon those 
occasions only that he can be said to use the sword as a 
revenger. Nor can Christian charity obhge a man, whom the 
law has made to be the avenger of blood, or of other crimes, 
to refuse to comply with that obligation which is laid upon 
him by the constitution under which he is born ; he can only 
forgive that of which he is the master, but the other is a debt 
which he owes the society ; and his private forgiving of the 
wTong done himself, does not reach to that other obligation, 
which is not in his own power to give away. 

The last paragraph in this Article is concerning the lawful- 
ness of wars. Some have thought all wars to be contrary to 
Christian charity, to be inhuman and barbarous ; and that 
therefore men ougltfc, according to the rule set us by our 
Saviour, ^ not to resist evil ;^ but when one injury is done, Matt.v. 39, 
not only to bear it, but to shew a readiness rather to receive 
new ones ; ^ turning the other cheek to him that smites us on 
the one ; going two miles with him that shall compel us to go Ver. 40. 
one with him ; and giving our cloak to him that shall take 
away our coat.^ It seems just, that, by a parity of reason, 
societies should be under the same obligations to bear from 
other societies, that single persons are under to other single 
persons. This must be acknowledged to be a very great 
difficulty ; for as, on the one hand, the words of our Sa^aour 
seem to be very express and full ; so, on the other hand, if 
they are to be understood literally, they must cast the world 
loose, and expose it to the injustice and insolence of wicked 
persons, who would not fail to take advantages from such a 
compliance and submission. Therefore these words must be 
considered, first, as addressed to private persons ; then, as 



510 



AN EXPOSITION OF 



ART. relating to smaller injuries^ which can more easily be borne; 
XXXV II. and^ finally^ as phrases and forms of speech, that are not to 
~ be carried to the utmost extent, but to be construed with 
that softening that is to be allowed to the use of a phrase. 
So that the meaning of that section of our Saviour^s sermon 
is to be taken thus ; that private persons ought to be so far 
from pursuing injuries, to the equal retaliation of an ^ eye for 
an eye, or a tooth for a tooth,' that they ought in many cases 
to bear injuries, without either resisting them, or making 
returns of evil for evil; shewing a patience to bear even 
repeated injuries, when the matter is small and the wrong 
tolerable. 

Under all this, secret conditions are to be understood, 
such as when by such our patience we may hope ^ to over- 
come evil with good ;' or at least to shew to the world the 
power that religion has over us, to check and subdue our 
resentments. In this case certainly we ought to sacrifice our 
just rights, either of defence, or of seeking reparation, to the 
honour of religion, and to the gaining of men by such an 
heroical instance of virtue. But it cannot be supposed that 
our Saviour meant that good men should deliver themselves 
up to be a prey to be devoured by bad men : or to oblige his 
followers to renounce their claims to the protection and repa- 
rations of law and justice. 

In this St. Paul gives us a clear commentary on our 
1 Cor. vi. Saviour's words : he reproves the Corinthians ^ for going to 
^> law with one another, and that before unbelievers when it 

was so great a scandal to the Christian religion in its first 
infancy. He says, ^ Why do not ye take wrong ? Why do 
not ye suiFer yourselves to be defrauded ?' Yet he does not 
deny, but that they might claim their rights, and seek for 
redress ; therefore he proposes their doing it by arbitration 
among themselves, and only urges the scandal of suing before 
heathen magistrates ; so that his reproof did not fall on their 
suing one another, but on the scandalous manner of doing it. 
Therefore men are not bound up by the gospel from seeking 
relief before a Christian judge, and, by consequence, those 
words of our Saviour's are not to be urged in the utmost 
extent of which they are capable. If private persons may 
seek reparation of one another, they may also seek reparations 
of the wrongs that are done by those who are under another 
obedience ; and every prince owes a protection to his people 
in such cases ; for ' he beareth not the sword in vain f he is 
their avenger. He may demand reparation by such forms as 
are agreed on among nations ; and, when that is not granted, 
he may take such reparation from any that are under that 
obedience, as may oblige the whole body to repair the injury. 
Much more may he use the sword to protect his subjects, if 
any other comes to invade them. For this end chiefly he 
has both the sword given him, and those taxes paid him, that 



THE XXXIX ARTICLES. 



511 



may enable him to support the charge, to which the use, of it A R T. 
may put him. And as a private man owes, by the ti^s of. ^^^^ 
humanity, assistance to a man whom he sees in the hands of 
thieves and murderers ; so princes may assist such other 
princes as are unjustly fallen upon, both out of humanity to 
him who is so . ill used, and to repress the insolence of an 
unjust aggressor, and also to secure the whole neighbourhood 
from the effects of success in such unlawful conquests. Upon 
all these accounts we do not doubt but that wars, whiqh are 
thus originally, as to the first occasion of them, defensive^ 
though in the progress of them they must be often offensive, 
may be lawful. 

God allowed of wars in that policy which he himself consti- 
tuted; in which we are to make a great diiference between 
those things that were permitted by reason of the hardness of 
their hearts, and those things which were expressly com- 
manded of God. These last can never be supposed to be/s 
immoral since commanded by God, whose precepts and judgry 
ments are altogether righteous. When the soldiers came to 
be baptized of St. John, he did not charge them to rehnquish 
that course of life, but only to ^ do violence to no man, to ac- Lukeiii 1 
cuse no man falsely, and to be content with their wages.' Nor Acts x.* 
did St. Peter charge Cornelius to forsake his post when he 
baptized him. The primitive Christians thought they might 
continue in mihtary employments, in which they preserved 
the purity of tlieir religion entire ; as appears both from Ter-* 
tullian's works, and from the history of Julian's short reign.- 
But though wars, that are in their own nature only defensive, 
are lawful, and a part of the protection that princes owe their 
people ; yet unjust wars, designed for making conq^iests, for 
the enlargement of empire, and the raising the glory of 
princes, are certainly public robberies, and the highest acts of 
injustice and violence possible ; in which men sacrifice to 
their pride or humour the peace of the world, and the lives of 
all those that die in the quarrel, whose blood God will require^ 
at their hands. Such princes become accountable to God, im 
the highest degree imaginable, for all the rapine and blood- 
shed that is occasioned by their pride and injustice. 

When it is visible that a war is unjust, certainly no man of 
conscience can serve in it, unless it be in the defensive part : 
for though no man can owe that to his prince to go and 
murder other persons at his command, yet he may owe it to 
his country to assist towards its preservation, from being 
overrun even by those whom his prince has provoked by 
making war on them unjustly. For even in such a war, 
though it is unlawful to serve in the attacks that are made on 
others, it is still lawful for the people of every nation to de- 
fend themselves against foreigners. 

There is no cause of war more unjust, than the propagating 
the true religion, or the destroying a false one. That is to be 



512 



AN EXPOSITION OF 



ART. left to the providence of God, who can change the hearts of 
XXXVII. Ynen, and bring them to the knowledge of the truth, when he 
will. Ambition, and the desire of empire, must never pretend 
to carry on God^s work. ^The wrath of man worketh not 
out the righteousness of God.' And it were better bare- 
facedly to own that men are set on by carnal motives, than to 
profane rehgion, and the name of God, by making it the 
pretence. 

juUWB ml bi . 



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lib 6 ju 



THE XXXIX ARTICLES. 



513 



ART. 
XXXVIII. 

ARTICLE XXXVIII. 

Of Christian Men^s Goods^ which are not common, , ; 

Cl^c ^Xic^t^ anU (^oot(^ of Cijvtsitiansi are not common, as{ toucl)mg 
ti^e IH^igl^t, CitU, anti 33osJs5es^s;ion of t\)t slanu ; a:^ certain ^na* 
baptisJt^ tfo faUdv boa^t. ^^ot^^3^t]^!gtan^l^ns, cbern :iHan ougi^t 
of ^ucf} Ci)ing£; as; i)t pos'^e^sictl), liberaltj) to gibe ^Imsi to ti)e 
^oor, accortring to ^bilitp. 

There is no great difficulty in this Article^ as there is 
no danger to be apprehended that the opinion condemned 
by it is like to spread. Those may be for it^ who find it 
for them. The poor may lay claim to it^ but few of the rich 
will ever go into it. The whole charge that is given in the 
scripture for charity and almsgiving ; all the rules that are 
given to the rich, and to masters, to whom their servants 
were then properties and slaves^ do clearly demonstrate that 
the gospel was not designed to introduce a community of 
goods. And even that fellowship or community, which was 
practised in the first beginnings of it, was the effect of par- 
ticular men's charity, and not of any law that was laid on 
them. ' Barnabus having land, sold it, and laid the price Acts iv. 
of it at the apostles' feet.^ And when St. Peter chid Ananias 36, 37. 
for having vowed to give in the whole price of his land to 
that distribution, and then withdrawing a part of it, and, by 
a He, pretending that he had brought it all in ; he affirmed Acts v. 3, 
that the right w^as still in him, tiU he by a vow had put it out 4. 
of his power. When God fed his people by miracle with the 
manna, there was an equal distribution made ; yet, when he 
brought them into the promised land, every man had his pro- 
perty. The equal division of the land was the foundation of 
that constitution ; but still every man had a property, and 
might improve it by his industry, either to the increasing of 
his stock, the purchasing houses in towns, or buying of 
estates, till the redemption at the jubilee. 

It can never be thought a just and equitable thing, that the 
sober and industrious should be bound to share the fruits of 
their labour with the idle and luxurious. This would be such 
an encouragement to those whom all wise governments ought 
to discourage, and would so discourage those who ought to 
be encouraged, that aU the order of the world must be dis- 
solved, if so extravagant a conceit should be entertained. 
Both the rich and the poor have rules given them, and there 
are virtues suitable to each state of life. The rich ought to be 
sober and thankful, modest and humble, bountiful and cha- 
ritable, out of the abundance that God has given them, and 
not to set their hearts upon uncertain riches, but to trust in 

2 L 



514 



AN EXPOSITION OF 



A R T. the living God. and to make the best use of them that they 
can. The poor ought to be patient and industrious, to 
submit to the providence of God, and to study to make sure 
of a better portion in another state, than God has thought fit 
to give them in this world. 

It will be much easier to persuade the world of the truth 
of the first part of this Article, than to bring them up to the 
practice of the second branch of it. We see what particular 
care God took of the poor in the old dispensation, and what 
variety of provision was made for them; all which must cer- 
tainly be carried as much higher among Christians, as the laws 
of love and charity are raised to a higher degree in the gospel. 
Christ represents the essay that he gives of the day of judg- 
ment, in this article of charity, and expresses it in the most 
emphatical words possible ; as if what is given to the poor 
were to be reckoned for as if it had been given personally to 
Christ himself; and in a great variety of other passages this 
matter is so often insisted on, that no man can resist it who 
reads them, and acknowledges the authority of the New 
Testament. 

It is not possible to fix a determined quota, as was done 
under the Law, in which every family had their peculiar allot- 
ment, which had a certain charge specified in the Law, that 
was laid upon it. But under the Gospel, as men may be 
under greater inequalities of fortune than they could have 
been under the old dispensation ; so that vast variety of men's 
circumstances makes that such proportions as would be into- 
lerable burdens upon some, would be too light and dispro- 
portioned to the wealth of others. Those words of our Sa- 
viour come pretty near the marldng out every man^s measure. 
Luke xxi. ^ These have of their abundance cast into the offerings of 
4. God; but she of her penury hath cast in all the living that 

she had.^ Abundance is superfluity in the Greek, which im- 
Prov. XXX. ports that which is over and above the ^ food that is con- 
®- venient;' that which one can well spare and lay aside. Now, 

by our Saviour's design, it plainly appears, that this is a low 
degree of charity, when men give only out of this: though, 
God knows, it is far beyond what is done by the greater part 
of Christians. Whereas that which is so peculiarly acceptable 
to God is when men give out of their penury, that is, out of 
what is necessary to them; when they are ready, especially 
upon great and crying occasions, even to pinch nature, and 
straiten themselves within what upon other occasions they 
may allow themselves ; that so they may distribute to the 
necessities of others, who are more pinched, and are in great 
extremities. By this every man ought to judge himself, as 
knowing that he must give a most particular account to God, 
of that which God hath reserved to himself, and ordered the 
distribution of it to the poor, out of all that abundance with 
which he has blessed some far beyond others. 



THE XXXIX ARTICLES. 



515 



A R T. 
XXXIX. 

ARTICLE XXXIX. 

Of a Christian Man's Oath. 

^£1 U)c confes5£{ tijat Jjatu auK ra^I) ^tu^aiiug k fovbitdfm €i)v\^tmx 
Plm ouv EoiU Bt^^ Ci^n^t, aut( James ^po^th; hie 
jiitJge t5atCi)n5ttan2^digu3ix tJot]^ not pio{)tbit, Init t^at a Plan 
mai) ^iJitav bil)m tijt Jiflagi^tiatc vcquiicti), in a Cau^c ot dfait^ 
mxts €t)atitv, it be trone accortJiiig to ti)t ^xQpf)tV^ teaci^mg, 

An oath is an appeal to God^ either upon a testimony that is 
given^ or a promise that is made^ confirming the truth of the 
one^ and the fidehty of the other. It is an appeal to God, 
who knows all things, and will judge all men : so it is an act 
that acknowledges both his omniscience, and his being the 
Governor of this world, who will judge all at the last day ac- 
cording to their deeds, and must be supposed to have a more 
immediate regard to such acts, in which men made him a 
party. An appeal truly made, is a committing the matter to 
God : a false one is an act of open defiance, which must 
either suppose a denial of his knowing all things, or a belief 
that he has forsaken the earth, and has no regard to the 
actions of mortals : or, finally, it is a bold venturing on the 
justice and wrath of God, for the serving some present end, 
or the gaining of some present advantage : and which of these 
soever gives a man that brutal confidence of adventuring on 
a false oath, we must conclude it to be a very crying sin ; 
which must be expiated with a very severe repentance, or will 
bring down very terrible judgments on those who are guilty 
of it. 

Thus, if we consider the matter upon the principles of 
natural religion, an oath is an act of worship and homage 
done to God; and is a very powerful mean for preserving 
the justice and order of the world. All decisions in justice 
must be founded upon evidence; two must be believed rather 
than one ; therefore the more terror that is struck into the 
minds of men, either when they give their testimony, or when 
they bind themselves by promises, and the deeper that this 
goes, it will both oblige them to the greater caution in what 
they say, and to the greater strictness in what they promise. 
Since therefore truth and fidelity are so necessary to the 
security and commerce of the world, and since an appeal to 
God is the greatest mean that can be thought on to bind 
men to an exactness and strictness in every thing with which 
that appeal is joined; therefore the use of an oath is fully 
iustified upon the principles of natural religion. This has 
spread itself so universally through the world, and began so 

2 L 2 



51G 



AN EXPOSITION OF 



A R T. early, that it may well be reckoned a branch of the law and 

^^^^I^- light of nature. 

We find this was practised by the jjatriarchs ; Abimelech 

Gen.xxi. reckoned that he was safe, if he could persuade Abraham to 
swear to him by God, that he would not deal falsely with 

XXVI. 28. liini. and Abraham consented so to swear. Either the same 
Abimelech, or another of that name, desired that an oath 
might be between Isaac and him ; and ^ they sware one to 

xxxi. 53. another.^ Jacob did also swear to Laban. Thus we find the 
patriarchs practising this before the Mosaical Law. Under 
that Law we find many covenants sealed by an oath ; and 

ir']9^& tt'^t a sacred bond, as appears from the story of the 

2 Sam.'xxi. Gribeonites. There was also a special constitution in the ♦ 

1- Jewish religion, by which one in authority might put others 

under an oath, and adjure them either to do somewhat, or to 

Lev. V.I. declare sonie truth. The law was, that '^when any sbul 
(i. e. man) sinned, and heard the voice of swearing (adjura- 
tion), and was a witness whether he hath seen it, or known 
it, if he do not utter it, then he shall bear his iniquity ;^ that 
is, he shall be guilty of perjury. So the form then was, the 
judge or the parents did adjure all persons to declare their 
knowledge of any particular. They charged this upon them 
with an oath or curse, and all persons were then bound b'y 

Judg. xvii. that oath to tell the truth. So Micah came and confessed, 

^' upon his mother^s adjuration, that he had the eleven hundred 

shekels, for which he heard her put all under a curse": 

1 Sam. xiv. and upon that she blessed him. Saul, when he was puffeti- 

24, 28, 44. ijjg^}jg Philistines, put the people Lmder a curse, if they 
should eat any food till night; and this ^vvas thought to be so 
obligatory, that the violation of it was capital, and Jonathan 

Matt. xxvi. was put in hazard of his life upon it. Thus the high priest 
put our Saviour under the oath of cz^r^m^, when he required 
him to tell, whether he was the Messias or not? UpOn 
which our Saviour was, according to that law, upon his oath; 
and though he had continued silent till then, as long as it 
was free to him to speak or not, at his pleasure ; yet then he 
was bound to speak, and so he did speak, and OAvned himseK 
to be what he truly was. 

This was the form oT that constitution: but if, by practice, 
it were found that men^s pronouncing the words of the oath 
themselves, when required by a person in authority to do it ; 
and that such actions, as their lifting up their hand to heaven, 
or their laying it on a Bible, as importing their sense of the 
terrors contained in that book, were like to make a deeper 
impresssion on them, than barely the judge's charging them 
with the oath or curse ; it seems to be within the compass of 
human authority, to change the rites and manner of this oath, 
and to put it in such a method as might probably work most 
on the minds of those who were to take it. The institution 
in general is plain, and the making of such alterations seems 
to be clearly in the power of any state, or society of men. 



THE XXXIX ARTICLES. 517 



In the New Testament we find St. Paul prosecuting a dis- A R T. 
course concerning the oath, which God sware to Abraham, -^XXIX. 
^who, not having a greater to swear by, swore by himself;^ Heb.vi.i3, 
and to enforce the importance of that, it is added, ^ an oath 14, 15. 
for confirmation (that is, for the affirming or assuring of any 
thing) is the end of all controversy.^ Which plainly shews 
us what notion the author of that Epistle had of an oath ; he 
did not consider it as an impiety or profanation of the name 
of God. 

In St. John^s visions an angel is represented as ' lifting up Rev. x. 5, 
his hand, and swearing by him that liveth for ever and ever:' ^• 
and the apostles, even in their Epistles, that are acknow- 
ledged to be wit by divine inspiration, do frequently appeal 
to God in these words, ^God is witness / which contain the Rom. i. 9. 
whole essence of an oath. Once St. Paul carries the expres- 20. 
sion to a form of imprecation, when he calls ^ God to record 
upon (or against) his soul.' 

These seem to be authorities beyond exception, justifying 
the use of an oath upon a great occasion, or before a com- 
petent authority ; according to that prophecy quoted in the 
Article, which is thought to relate to the times of the Mes- 
sias : ^ And thou shalt swear. The Lord liveth, in truth, in ^* 
judgment, and in righteousness ; and the nations shall bless 
themselves in him, and in him shall they glory.' These last 
words seem evidently to relate to the days of the Messiah: 
so here an oath religiously taken is represented as a part of 
that worship, which all nations shall offer up to God under 
the new dispensation. 

Against all this the great objection is, that when Christ is 
correcting the glosses that the Pharisees put upon the law, 
whereas they only taught that men ^ should not forswear 
themselves, but perform their oaths unto the Lord;' our Sa- 
viour says, Swear not at all ; neither by the heaven, nor the 
earth, nor by Jerusalem, nor_ by the head ; but let your 
communication be yea, yea, and nay, nay; for whatsoever is 
more than these, cometh of evil.' And St. James, speaking 
of the enduring afflictions, and of the patience of Job, adds, 
^ But above all things, my brethren, swear not'f neither by Jam. v. 12. 
the heaveuj neither by the earth, neither by any other oath ; 
but let your yea be yea, and your nay^ nay ; lest ye fall into 
condemnation.' It must be confessed that these words seem 
to be so express and positive, that great regard is to be had 
to a scruple that is founded on an authority that seems to 
be so full. But according to what was formerly observed of 
the manner of . the judiciary oaths among the Jews, these 
words cannot belong to them. Those oaths were bound 
upon the party by the authority of the judge ; in which he 
was passive, and so could not help his being put under an 
oath : whereas our Saviour's words relate only to those oaths 
which a man took voluntarily on himself, but not to those 



518 



AN EXPOSITION, &c. 



A R T. under which he was bound, according to the law of God, If 
our Saviour had intended to have forbidden all judiciary 
oaths, he must have annulled that part of the authority of 
magistrates and parents, and have forbid them to put others 
under oaths. The word communication, that comes after- 
wards, seems to be a key to our Saviour's words, to shew 
that they ought onj^ to be applied to their communication 
or commerce ; to those discourses that pass among men, in 
which it is but too customary to give oaths a very large share. 
Or since the words that went before, concerning the perform- 
ing of vows, seem to limit the discourse to them, the mean- 
ing of ^ swear not at all,' may be this ; Be not ready, as the 
Jews were, to make vows 4n all occasions, to devote them- 
selves or others : instead of those, he requires them to use a 
greater simplicity in tlieir comttiunication. And St. James's 
words may be also very fitly applied to this, since men in 
their afflictions are apt to make very indiscreet vows, without 
considering whether they either can, or probably will, pay 
them; as if they would pretend by such profuse vows to 
overcome or corrupt God. 

This sense will well agree both to our Saviour's words and 
to St. James's; and it seems most reasonable to believe 
that this is their true sense, for it agrees with every thing 
else ; whereas, if we understand them in that strict sense of 
condemning all oaths, we cannot tell what to make of those 
oaths which bceur in several passages of St. Paul's Epistles : 
and least of all, what to say to our Saviour's own answering 
upon oath, when adjured. Therefore all rash and vain swear- 
ing, all swearing in the communication or intercourse of 
mankind, is certainly condemned, as well as all imprecatory 
vows. But since we have so great authorities from the 
scriptures in both Testaments for other oaths ; and since that 
agrees so evidently with the principles of natural rehgion, we 
may conclude with the Article, that a man may swear when 
the magistrate requireth it. It is added, in a cause of faith 
and charity; for certainly, in trifling matters, such reverence 
is due to the holy name of God, that swearing ought to be 
avoided : but when it is necessary, it ought to be set about 
with those regards that are due to the great God, who is 
appealed to. A gravity of deportment, and an exactness of 
weighing the truth of what we say, are highly necessary here : 
certainly, our words ought to be few, and our hearts full of 
the apprehensions of the majesty of that God, with whom we 
have to do, before whom we stand, and to whom we appeal, 
who knows all things, ^-and will bring every work to judg- 
ment, with every secret thing, whether it be good, or whether 
it be evil.' 



519 



jis «i3iU0'» iBffJ ^svoj^aoVmsim^voo blow 'ifff 
iiii 0} ,^b1iyfr g^ujorrB^ Tiro y^-^ ^ em^ae -^-i 

..lo-jBoifi fniffloo p P J] N*3yl2£^^ ^xf§/JO vsiij 

/IBllg 9§1f1 TJ9T S grf^BO QTlg Oj ^IS^^I^^^^^^^ ^-^ ' 

.noltisq 9xlJ gnimsonoo {9^o^9d Inw li^fi^t abio-w 9iii g^Tiit i( 

i li as (ib&et ion 93 ;aiffl gd jof^ iJssY/g ^ lo 

•ii9i{i siovgb oi .^noisBODO ^^^nh B7tov e^sm oi ,9*i9w 8wsl 
■'8JJ oi msr : ' ^ ' 

- aoibL jS THE AUGSBURG CONFESSION, 
f ii9m 99nia ^airiJ oJ bgiiqqs '^bh jidY o^^B 9d ^-s^n : 
ijodJiv/ e8W0Y i99Tj8ibni ^ris ^ sAsm oi iqa 9Tb gffoiioiFftH 
aq tJUiw Y^^J^^^o"!*^! ^n£0 I9nii9 y^^^* i9ilj9iiw gnixsL 

To the short account of this confession already i^^ia,* the Editor is induced to add 
the following particulars.f - - 

■*"The Augsburg confession was prepared for the twofold purpose of rebutting 
the' slanders of the papists, and of publishing to Europe the doctrines of the re- 
formers. The emperor Charles V., in order to terminate the disptxtes between the 
pope and the princes who favoured the Reformation, which tended to distract his 
empire by civil discord, and threw a formidable barrier into the way of his am- 
bitious projects, had ordered the convention of a Diet, at Augsbui^, and promised 
his. personal; attendance* The pope, also, who had- long been pressing on. the 
emperor the adoption of violent measures to suppi-ess the obstinate heretics, as the 
holy father termed them, cherished the flattering expectation that, this diet would 
give a death-blow to the Protestant cause. Encouraged by the promise of im- 
partial audience from the emperor, the elector of Saxony charged Lxither, Melanc- 
thon, Bugenhagen, and Jonas, to make a sketch of their doctrines to be used at 
the diet. Such a summary was written by Euther in severiteen sectibns, ' tfermed 
the Torgan Articles. / The emperor^ however,, instead of reaching Augsburg on 
the 8th of April, according to promise, did npti arrive iuntil the 15th of June. Me- 
lancthon, in the mean time, expanded these Torgan Articles^ into what is now 
denominated the Augsburg Confession. This enlarged work was then submitted 
to Luther at Coburg, and received his cordial sanction. On the 25th of June, 
therefore, at 3 o'clock, p.m. this memorable confession was publicly pronounced in 
the presence of the emperor, his brother king Ferdinand, the electors John of 
Saxony, with his son John Frederick, George of Brandenburg, Erancis^ and 
Ernest, dukes of Luneburg and Brunswick, Philip landgrave of Hesse, Wolf- 
gang, prince of Anhalt, and about two hundred other princes and dkinfis. The 
chancellors of the Elector, Baier and Pontanus arose> the former holding in his 
hand the German copy, and the latter the Latin original. The emperor desired 

, ' .. T * See note, page 5. 

OPbr 'iffese remarks, together with the translation of the Twenty-one Articles, the 
Editor is indebted to a work entitled ' Elements of Popular Theology, with special 
reference to the Doctrines of the Reformation, as avowed before the Diet at Augs- 
burg, in 1530. By S. S. Schmucker, D. D., Professor of Christian Theology in the Theo- 
logical Seminary of the general Synod of the Lutheran church, Gettysburg, Pa. Ando- 
ver, 1834.'— [Ed.] 



520 



APPENDIX. 



the Latin to be read ; but the Elector remonstrated, alleging, that as the diet was 
assembled on German ground, it ought to use the German language. The em- 
peror having assented, Dr. Baier read the. German copy, and, it is said, pronounced 
it with such an emphasis and so pow^erful a voice, that every syllable was heard, 
not only by all in the : hall, but also by the vast multitudes who had crowded 
around the doors and windows of the spacious edifice. This confession, although 
it did not change the predetermined purpose of the politic Charles, exerted a pro- 
digious influence in favour of the reformers in the minds of the numerous princes, 
divines, and literary men, who had assembled from a distance on this memorable 
occasion. It was soon after disseminated throughout Europe, and has been trans- 
lated into the Hebrew, Greek, Spanish, Belgic, Italian, Slavonic, French, and 
English languages. The version found in this work, was made by the writer from 
the original Latin. This remark may not be superfluous, as most of the English 
versions which he has seen were made from the German copy ; which though en- 
tirely coincident in sense difters occasionally in its phraseology. This Confession, 
which IS justly styled the mother-symbol of the Reformation, has been adopted by 
the major part of all Protestant Europe, and has for about three centuries past 
'been the standing symbol of Lutherism in the following kingdoms : 

Germany, including Prussia, part of Hungai'y, small part of 

France. , . . .... . . . ....... 17,000,000 

; Denmark, in which the king must profess the Augsburg 



Confession ... 



........ lAif liiom 



^li ^ Norway, including Iceland .^^^l '§hqMq -b^sip -Ba'a ,x 



Sweden 



1,000,000 
;746,000 
2,800,000 



Lapland and Finland also contain numerous churches of the Augsburg Confession. 
The United Brethren or Moravians, though peculiar in their church government, 
have always retained the Augsburg Confession as their symbol, and yet adhere to 
it more strictly than most other portions of the Lutheran church. The whole num- 
ber of Christians in Europe who profess the Augsburg Confession has been ratfed 
by good authors at 27,000,000, but certairily is upward of 20,000,000, and ein- 
braccs in it seventeen rgigning sovereigns.' 

lOiBSomGEi io STswoi" 

hoB hioW 9rfj lo QBwooaib \kuolqmi 

< Mhaib ton ois xadi ^sdi ,ihlqH ^f loE 
' - Hma-giBbioW Bdi isdi'issd , 
. '.'/>r 9rit fnlqB, .ad* has 



=9rft aiqaii m aiujias olaiiBcS mvuqtl eh 
'-sib ssffoataq ink aoa boup ^wimoho? 



JI aJOITilA 

i^tm 9t£ orfw mm Ub ^msbA Io IM edi 
-sb & diiw mod &tB sbsisbflsgns ^lls-i 
■■.ssl 9* tooiim ,8i Jsifj .e-wSsa bsmiq 

yd ,miif sbiswoJ gongbftnoo to boO 
ijsii} ban i sQiihaQqoiq liAak dilw 



-oiq mmuisa mubamss saaimod soustv 
,J29 ood [oiBooaq mm jBtajsoaBrr ItBn ■ 
,mw9a fi§i9 ^fiiojjba s>ak ^igQ uiom ■ 
oM 9«pboxfp BiiaaDsiquouoo sm^i 



APPENDIX. 



521 



CONFESSIO AUGUSTANA. 



I. De Deo. 

EccLEsiiE magno consensu apud nos 
decent, decretum Nicenae synodi, de 
unitate essentise Divinse, et de tribus 
personis, verum et sine ulla dubitatione 
credendum esse. Videlicet, quod sit 
ima essentia Divina, quae et appellatur 
et est Deus, seternus, incorporeUs, im- 
partibilis, immensa potentia, sapientia, 
bonitate. Creator et Consei-vator om- 
nium rerum visibilium et invisibilium, 
et tanaen tres sint personse, ejusdem es- 
sentiae et potentise, et coaeternae. Pater, 
Filius, et Spiritus Sanctus. Et nomine 
personae utuntur ea significatione, qua 
usi sunt in hac causa scriptores ecelesi- 
astici, ut significet non partem aut qua- 
litatem in alio, sed quod proprie sub- 
sistit. 

■ '■ '''' ' > si^/dpgn-A 

Damnant omii<es haereses, contra hunc 
articulum exortas, ut Manichseos, qui 
duo principia ponebant, bonum et ma- 
lum. Item Valentinianos, Arianos, Euno- 
mianos, Mahometistas, et omnes horum 
similes. Damnant et Samosatenos, tete- 
res et neotericos, qui, ciim tantum unam 
personam esse contendant, de Verbo et 
de Spiritu Sancto astute et impie rhe- 
toricantur, quod non sint personae dis- 
tinct ae, sed quod Verbum significet ver- 
bum vocale et Spiritus motum in rebus 
creatum. 



II. De Peccato Originis. 

Item decent, quod, post lapsum Adae, 
omnes homines secundum naturam pro- 
pagati nascantur, cum peccato, hoc est, 
sine metu Dei, sine fiducia, erga Deum, 
et cum concupiscentia quodque hie 
morbus, seu vitium originis vere sit 
peccatum, damnans et afferens nunc 



THE AUGSBURG CONFESSION. 

ARTICLE I. 
Of God. 

Our churches with one accord teach, 
that the decree of the council of Nice, 
concerning the unity of the Divine es- 
sence, and concerning the three persons, 
is true, and ought to be confidently be- 
lieved, viz. that there is one Divine es- 
sence, ■which is called and is God, eter- 
nal, incorporeal, indivisible, infinite in 
power, wisdom and goodness, the Creator 
and Preserver of all things visible and 
invisible : and yet that there are three 
persons, who are of the same essence 
and power, and are co-eternal, the Fa- 
ther, the Son, and the Holy Spirit. And 
the =term person they use in the same 
sense, in which it is employed by eccle- 
siastical writers on this subject ; to sig- 
nify not a part or quality of something 
else, but that which exists of itself. 

[They condemn all heresies which 
have sprung up against this Article, 
such as that of the Manichaeans, who 
maintained two principles, a bad and a 
good one. Likewise the Valentinians, 
Arians, Eunomians, Mahometans, and all 
such like. They condemn also the fol- 
lowers of Samosatenus, the older and 
later ones, who, when they contend that 
there is only one Person, subtilely and 
impiously discourse of the Word and 
Holy Spirit, that they are not distinct 
persons, but that the Word signifies the 
vocal word, and the Spirit the motion 
created in things.*] 

ARTICLE II. 

Of Natural Depravity. 

Our churches likewise teach, that since 
the fall of Adam, all men who are natu- 
rally engendered, are born with a de- 
praved nature, that is, without the fear 
of God or confidence towards him, but 
with sinful propensities: and that this 
disease, or natural depravity, is really 



* The passages included within these marks [ ], having been omitted in the Author's 
translation, are supplied by the Editor. 



APPENDIX. 



quoque seternam mortem his, qui non 
renascuntur per baptismum et Spiritum 
Sanctum. 

Damnant Pelagianos, et alios, qui 
vitium originis negant esse peccatum, 
et ut extenuent gloriam meriti et bene- 
ficiorum Christi, disputant hominem pro- 
priis viribus rationis coram Deo justifi- 
cari posse. 

1ST p-)Ojjboiq «9yjslq bnh Siv 

Item doceiit, quod Verbum, hoc est, 
Filius Dei, assumserit humanam naturam 
in utero beatse Mariae Virginis, ut sint 
duse naturse, divina et humana, in uni- 
tate personee inseparabiliter conjunctse, 
imus Christus, vere Deus, et vere homo, 
ftatus ex virgine Maria, vere passus, 
cfucifixus, mortuus et sepultus, ut re- 
conciliaret nobis Patrem, et hostia es- 
set non tantum pro eulpa originis, sed 
etiam pro otnnibus actualibus hominura 
peccatis. Idem descendit ad inferos, et 
vere resurrexit tertia die, deinde ascen- 
dit ad ccelos, ut sedeat s^.^ dexteram 
Patris, et perpetuo regnet et dominetur 
omnibus creaturis, sanctificet credentes 
in ipsum, misso in corda €orum Spiritu 
Sancto, qui r^at, consoletur ac vivifi- 
cet eos, ac defendat adversus diabolum, 
et vini peccati. Idem Christus palam 
est rediturus, ut judicet vivos et mor- 
tuos, etc., juxta Symbolum Apostolorum. 

^box) xd bsniBhio need Bsd 

IV. De Justificatione. 

Idem docent, quod homines non pos- 
sint justificari coram Deo propriis viri- 
bus, meritisc' aut ■ operibus, sed gratis 
justificentur propter Christum per fidem, 
ciira credunt se in gratiara recipi, et 
peccata remitti propter Christum, qui 
sua morte pro nostris peccatis satisfecit. 
Hanc fidem imputat Deus pro justitia 
coram ipso, Rom. 3. et 4i 



sin, and still condemns and causes eter. 
nal death to those, who are not born 
again by baptism and the Holy Spirit. 

[They condemn the Pelagians and 
others who deny that original corruption 
is sin, and who, that they may diminish 
the glory of the merits and benefits of 
Christ, allege that man may, by the pro- 
per operation of reason, be justified be- 
fore God.] i> i ,Jo.rf . 

• abi/.*? mp yn 

ARTICLE liri* ''^r 

Of the Son of God and Sis^'-asiEDiA- 
TORiAL Work. ■ ; 

They likewise teach, that the Word, 
that is, the Son of God, assumed hu- 
man nature, in the womb of the bless- 
ed Virgin Mary, so that the two natures, 
human and divine, inseparably united in 
one person, constitute one Christ, who 
is true God and man, born of the Virgin 
Mary ; who truly suflPered, was crucified, 
died and was buried, that he might re- 
concile the Father to us, and be a sacri- 
fice not only for original sin, but also 
for all the actual sins of men. He like- 
wise descended into hell, and truly arose 
on the third day ; and then ascended to 
heaven, that he might sit at the right 
hand of the Father, might perpetually 
reign over all creatures, and might 
sanctify those who believe in him, by 
sending into their hearts the Holy Spirit, 
who governs, consoles, quickens, and 
defends them against the devil and the 
power of sin. The same Christ will 
return again openly, that he may judge 
the living and the dead, &;c., according 
to the Apostolic Creed. 

ARTICLE IV. 
Of Justification. 

They in like manner teach, that men 
cannot be justified before God by their 
own strength, merits, or works ; but 
that they are justified gratuitously for 
Christ's sake, through faith ; when they 
believe, that they are received into fa- 
vour, and that their sins are remitted 
on account of Christ, who made satis- 
faction for our transgressions by his 
death. This faith God imputes to us as 
righteousness. 



APPENDIX. 



523 



V. De Ministerio Eccles. 

Ut banc fidem consequamur, institu- 
tum est ministerium docendi Evangelii 
et porrigendi sacramenta. Nam per 
verbum et sacramenta, tanquam per 
instrumenta donatur Spiritus Sanctus, 
qui fidem efficit, ubi et quando visum 
est Deo, in iis, qui audiunt Evangelium, 
scilicet, quod Deus non propter nostra 
merita, sed propter Christum justificet 
hosj qui eredunt, se propter Christum 
in gratiam recipi. Daranant Anabap- 
tistas, et alios, qui sentiunt Spiritum 
Sanctum contingere sine verbo externo 
hominibus per ipsorum prseparationes et 
opera. 

nl bdilcus xMstsqozal ^Qahih ba& usmad 
orfw ^isbdO sao eiuiit&aoo jioz'toq ©no 
nrgirV edi lo mod ^nsm bfljs boO asni ?i 
.bsaiomo 8sw,b9'£9l«8 ^Inii odv ix^&lfi 
-ot td'gm ed tfsril .barmd gsw ba& hslh 
-rr-h- VL De Nova OBfeB&N^^Honoo 
'Ino Jon soil 
Item docent, quod fides ilia dcfbeat 
bonos fructus parere, et quod oporteat 
bona opera, mandata a Deo, faeere, 
propter voluntatem Dei, non ut confida- 
mus per ea opera justificationem coram 
Deo mereri. Nam remissio peccatorum 
et justificatio fide apprehenditur, sieut 
testatur et vox Ghristi. Cum feceritis 
haec omnia, dicite, servi inutiloS sumus. 
Idem docent et veteres scriptores eccle- 
siastici ; Ambrosius enim inquit : Hoe 
constitutum est a Deo, ut qui credit in 
Christum, salvus sit, sine opere, sola 
fide gratis accipiens remissionem pecca- 
torum. 



Iteiitt'ddc'eht, quod una sancta eccle- 
sia pei-petuo mansura sit: Est autem 
ecclesia congregatio sanctorum, in qua 
evangelium recte do(ietur, et recte ad~ 
ministrantur sacramenta. Et ad veram 
unitatem ecclesise, satis est consentire 
de doctrina evangelii et administratione 
sacramentorum. Nec necesse est ubi- 



ARTICLE V. 

Of the Ministerial Office (and 
Means of Grace). 

In order that we may obtain this 
faith, the ministerial office has been in- 
stituted, whose members are to preach 
the gospel, and administer the sacra- 
ments. For through the instrumentality 
of the word and sacraments, as means of 
grace, the Holy Spirit is given, who, in 
his own time and place, produces faith 
in those who hearken to the gospel 
message, n^toely, that dlody for Christ's 
sake, and not on account of any merit 
in us, justifies those who believe in 
Christ. 

[They condemn the Anabaptists and 
others, who think that the Holy Spirit 
qomes upon men by their own prepara- 
ijoi^s , ;and work^, , without ti^e ^e^tern^ 

9197 ^hilBlK Sfi.t'g'liv 29 BUiBtt 



ARTICLE yi. 



-91 iij 

JE^ncerning new Obedience (or a 
^t? ■ Christian Life). 

' They likewise teacb, that this faith 
must bring forth good fruits ; and that 
it is our duty to perform those good 
works which God has commanded, be- 
cause he has eirjoined tliem, and not in 
the expectation of thereby meriting jus- 
tification before him. For, remission 
of sins and justification are secured by 
faith ; as the declaration of Christ him;, 
self implies: ' When ye shall have doi^' 
all those tMrigs, say, We are uttprofitabfe' 
servants.' 

[The same thing is taught by the an- 
cient ecclesiastical writers : for Ambrose 
says, ' this has been ordained by God, 
that he who believes in Christ is saved 
without works, Receiving remission of 
sins freely through faith alone.'] 

ARTICLE vii.-,!;f;. 

Of the Church* 
They likewise teach, that there will 
always be one holy church. The church 
is the congregation of the saints, in 
which the gospel is correctly taugfif, 
and the saOraments are properly admit' 
nistered. And for the true unity of the 
church nothing more is required, than 
agreement concerning the doctrines of 



524 



APPENDIX. 



que esse similes traditiones humanas, 
seu ritus aut ceremonias, ab hominibus 
institutas. Sicut inquit Paulus: Una 
fides, unum baptisma, unus Deus et 
Pater omnium, &c. 



VIII. Quid sit Ecclesia^ 

Quanquam ecclesia proprie sit con- 
gregatio sanctorum, et vere credenti- 
um ; tamen, cum in hac vita multi hy- 
pocritse et mali admixti sint, licet uti 
sacramentis, quae per malos administran- 
tur, juxta vocem Cbristi. Sedent scribse 
et pharissei in cathedra Moysis, &c. 
Et sacramenta et verbum propter ordi- 
nationem et mandatum Christi sunt ef- 
ficacia, etiamsi per malos exhibeantur. 
Damnant Donatistas et similes, qui ne- 
gabant licere uti mmisterio malorum in 
ecclesia, et seiitiebant, rainisterium ma- 
lorum inutile et inefficax esse. 



IX. De Baptismo. 

De baptismo docent, quod sit neces- 
sarius ad salutem, quodque per baptis- 
mum offeratur gratia Dei. Et quod 
pueri sint baptizandi, qui per baptismum 
oblati Deo, recipiantur in gratiam Dei. 
Damnant Anabaptistas, qui improbant 
baptismum puerorum et affirmant pue- 
ros sine baptismo salvos fieri. 



X. De Ccena Domini. 

De ccena Domini docent, quod cor- 
pus et sanguis Christi vere adsint, et 
distribuantur vescentibus m ccena Do- 
mini et improbant secus docentes. 



XI. ©E CoNPESStONE. 

De confessione docent quod absolu- 
tio privata in ecclesiis retinenda sit quan- 
quam in confessione non sit necessaria 
omnium delictorum enumeratio. Est 



the gospel, and the administration of 
the sacraments. Nor is it necessary, 
that the same human traditions, that is, 
rites and ceremonies instituted by men, 
should be every where observed. As 
Paul says : * One faith, one baptism, 
one God and Father of all,' &c. 

ARTICLE VIII. 
What the Church is. 

Although the church is properly a 
congregation of saints and true believers ; 
yet as, in the present life, many hypo- 
crites and wicked men are mingled with 
them, it is lawful for us also to receive 
the sacraments, when administered by 
unconverted men, agreeably to the de- 
claration of our Saviour, 'that the scribes 
and pharisees sit in Moses' seat,' &c. 

[They condemn the Donatists and 
such like who denied that it is lawful to 
make use of the ministry of wicked men 
in the church, and who thought the mi- 
nistry of such useless and without effica- 
cy-] . . = 

ARTICLE IX. 

Of Baptism. 

Concerning baptism our churches 
teach, that it is a necessary ordinance, 
that it is a means of grace, and ought to 
be administered also to children, who 
are thereby dedicated to God, and re- 
ceived into his favour. 

[They condemn the Anabaptists who 
reject the baptism of children; and who 
affirm that infants may be saved without 
baptism,] 

ARTICLE X. 
Of the Lord's Supper. 

In regard to the Lord's supper they 
teach, that the body and blood of Christ 
are actually present under the emblems 
of bread and wine ; and are dispensed 
to the communican,ts. 

ARTICLE XI. 
Of Confession. 

In regard to confession they teach, 
that private absolution ought to be re- 
tained in the churches ; but that an enu- 
meration of all our transgressions is not 



APPENDIX. 



525 



enim impossibilis juxta Psalmum xix. 
12. ' Delicta quis intelligit?' 



XII. De PCENITENTIA. 

De poenitentia decent, quod lapsis 
post baptismum contingere possit remis- 
sio peccatorum quocunque tempore, cum 
convertuntur, Et quod ecclesia talibus 
redeuntibus adpoenitentiam absolutionem 
impertiri debeat. Constat autem poe- 
nitentia proprie his duabus partibus : 
altera est, contritio seu terrores incussi 
conscientise agnito peccato. Altera est, 
fides, quae concipitur ex evangelio, seu 
absolutione, et credit propter Chris- 
tum remitti peccata, et consolatur 
conscientiam, et ex terroribus liberat. 
Deinde sequi debent bona opera, quae 
sunt fructus pcenitentiae. Damnant 
Anabaptistas, qui negant semel justifi- 
catos posse amittere Spiritum Sanctum. 
Item, qui contendunt, quibusdam tantam 
perfectionem in hac vita contingere, ut 
peccare non possint. Damnantur et 
Novatiani, qui nolebant absolvere lapsos 
post baptismum redeuntes ad poeniten- 
tiam. Rejiciuntur et isti, qui non decent 
remissionem peccatorum per fidem con- 
tingere, sed jubent nos mereri gratiara 
per satisfactiones nostras. 



XIII. De Usu Sacramentorum. 

De usu sacramentorum decent, quod 
sacramenta instituta sint, non mode ut 
sint netae prefessionis inter homines, 
sed magis ut sint signa et testimenia 
voluntatis Dei erga nes, ad excitandam 
et cenfirmandam fidem in his, qui utun- 
tur, propesita. Itaque utendum est sa- 
cramentis, ita ut fides accedat, quae cre- 
dat premissionibus, quae per sacramenta 
exhibentur et estenduntur. Damnant 
igitur illes, qui decent, quod sacramenta 
ex opere operate justificent, nec decent 



requisite in confession. For this is an 
impossibility, according to the declara- 
tion of the Psalmist : ' Who can under- 
stand his errors ?' 

ARTICLE XII. 

Of Repentance. 

Concerning repentance they teach, 
that those who have relapsed into sin 
after baptism, may at any time obtain 
pardon, vphen they repent: and that the 
church ought to grant absolution (restore 
to church-privileges) to such as manifest 
repentance. But repentance properly 
consists of two parts. The one is con- 
trition or dread on account of acknowr- 
ledged sin. The other is faith, which 
is produced by the gospel, or by means 
of absolntion : which believes that par- 
den for sin is bestowed for Christ's sake ; 
which tranquillizes the conscience, and 
liberates it from fear. Such repentance 
must be succeeded'by good works as its 
fruits. They condemn the doctrine of 
such as deny, that those who have once 
been justified, may lose.^the Holy Spirit. 
In like maniier theSe ^^iio contend, that 
seme persons attain so high a degree of 
perfection in this life, that they cannot 
sin.- They reject also those, who are 
unwilling to absolve (restore to church- 
privileges) such as have backslidden 
after baptism, even if they f epent : 
also those who teach, that remission of 
sins is net obtained through faith ; But 
require us to merit grace by our good 
works. 

Of the Use of the Sacraments. 

Concerning the use of the sacraments 
our churches teach, that they were insti- 
tuted net only as marks of a Christian 
profession amongst men ; but rather as 
signs and evidences of the divine dispo- 
sition towards us, tendered for the pur- 
pose of exciting and cottfirmitig the faith 
of these who use them. Hence the sa- 
craments ought to be received with faith 
in the promises which are exhibited and 
proposed by them. They therefore con- 
demn these who maintain, t^ 



526 



APPENDIX. 



fidem requiri in usu sacramentorum, 
quae credat remitti peccata. 



XIV. De Ordine Ecclesiastico. 

De ordine ecclesiastico docent, quod 
nemo debeat in ecclesia publice docere, 
aut sacramenta administrare, nisi rite 
vocatus. 

XV. De Kitibus Ecclesiasticis. 

De ritibus ecclesiasticis docent, quod 
ritus illi servandi sint, qui sine peccato 
servari possunt, et prosunt ad tranquilli- 
tatem et bonum ordinem in ecclesia, si- 
cut certse ferias, festa et similia. De 
talibus rebus tamen admonentur ho- 
mines, ne conscientiae onerentur, tan- 
quam talis cultus ad salutem necessa- 
rius sit. Admonentur etiam, quod tra- 
ditiones humanae institutae ad placandum 
Deum, ad promerendam gratiam, et 
satisfaciendum pro peccatis, adversentur 
evangelio et doctrinae fidei. Quare vota 
et traditiones de cibis 6t diebus, &c., 
institutae ad promerendam gratiam, et 
satisfaciendum pro peccatis, inutiles sint 
et contra evangelium. 



XVI. De Rebus Civilibus. 

De rebus civilibus docent, quod legi- 
timae ordinationes civiles sint bona opera 
Dei, quod Christianis lieeat gerere raa- 
gistratus, exercere judicia, judicare res 
ex Imperatoriis et aliis prsesentibus 
legibus, supplicia jure constituare, jure 
bellare, militare, lege contrahere, tenere 
proprium, jusjurandum postulantibus 
magistratibus dare, ducere exorurn, 
nubere. Damnant Anabaptistas, qui 
interdicunt haec civilia officia Chris- 
tianis. Damnant et illos, qui evange- 
licam perfectionem non collocant in 
timore Dei et fidei, sed in deserendis 
civilibus officiis, quia evangelium tradit 
justitiam seternam cordis. Interim non 
dissipat Politiani aut ceconomiam, sed 



craments produce justification in thei'' 
recipients as a matter of course (ex opera 
operate), and who do not teach that faith 
is necessary, in the reception of the sa- 
craments, to the remission of sins. 

ARTICLE XIV. 
Of Church Orders. 
Concerning church orders they teach, 
that no person ought publicly to teach 
in the church, or to administer the sa- 
craments, without a regular call. 

ARTICLE XV. 
Of Religious Ceremonies. 
Concerning ecclesiastical ceremonies 
they teach, that those ceremonies ought 
to be observed, which can be attended 
to without sin, and which promote peace 
and good order in the church, such as 
certain holy-days, festivals, &c. Con- 
cerning matters of this kind, however, 
caution should t)e observed, lest the con- 
sciences of men be burdened, as though 
such observances were necessary to sal- 
vation. Men should also be apprised, 
that human traditionary observances, in- 
stituted with a view to appease God, to 
merit his favour, and make satisfaction 
for sins, are contrary to the gospel and 
the doctrine of faith. Wherefore vows 
and traditionary observances concerning 
meats, days, &c. instituted to merit 
grace and make satisfaction for sins, 
are useless, and contrary to the gospel. 

ARTICLE XVL 
Of Political Affairs. 
In regard to political affairs our 
churches teach, that legitimate political 
enactments are good works of God; 
that it is lawful for Christians to hold 
civil offices, to pronounce judgment and 
decide cases according to the imperial 
and other existing laws ; to inflict just 
punishment, wage just wars, and serve 
in them ; to make lawful contracts ; 
hold property ; to make oath when re- 
quired by the magistrate, to marry and 
be married. They condemn the Ana- 
baptists, who interdict to Christians the 
performance of these civil duties. They 
also condemn those who make evange- 
lical perfection consist not in the fear of 
God and in faith, but in the abandon- 



APPENDIX. 



527 



maxime postulat conservare tanquam 
ordinationes Dei, et in talibus ordina- 
tionibus exercere caritatem. Itaque 
necessario debent Christiani obedire 
magistratibus suis et legibus. Nisi cum 
jubent peccare, tunc enim magis debent 
obedire Deo, quam hominibus, Actor. 
5. V. 29. 



XVII. De Christi reditu ad Ju- 
dicium. 

Item decent, quod Christus apparebit 
in consummatione mundi adjudicandum, 
et mortuos omnes resuscitabit, piis et 
electis dabit vitam seternam et perpetua 
gaudia, impios autem homines ac dia- 
bolos condemnabit, ut sine fine cru- 
cientur* Damnant Anabaptistas, qui 
sentiunt, hominibus damnatis ac diabolis 
finem pcenarum futurum esse. Dam- 
nant et alios, qui nunc spargunt Judiacas 
opiniones, quod ante resurrectionem 
mortuorum, pii regnum mundi occu- 
paturi sint, ubique oppressis impiis. 



XVIII. De Libero Arbitrio. 
De libero arbitrio docent, quod hu- 
mana voluntas habeat aliquam libertatem 
ad efficiendam civilem justitiam, et di- 
ligendas res ratione subjectas. Sed non 
habet vim sine Spiritu Sancto effici- 
endse justitiae Dei, seu justitias spiri- 
tuals, quia animalis homo non percipit 
ea, quae sunt Spiritus Dei ; sed haec fit 
in cordibus, cum per verbum Spiritus 
Sanctus concipitur. Hsec totidem verbis 
dicit Augustinus lib. 3. Hypognosticon. 
Esse fatemur liberum arbitrium omnibus 
hominibus, habens quidem judicium ra- 
tionis, non per quod sit idoneum in iis, 
quae ad Deum pertinent, sine Deo aut 
inchoare aut certe peragere, sed tantum 
in operibus vitae praesentis tam bonis, 
quam etiam malis ; Bonis dico, quae de 
bono naturae oriuntur, i. e. velle laborare 
in agro, velle manducare et bibere, velle 



ment of all civil duties : because the 
gospel teaches the necessity of ceaseless 
righteousness of heart, whilst it does 
not reject the duties of civil and do- 
mestic life, but directs them to be ob- 
served as of divine appointment, and 
performed in the spirit of Christian be- 
nevolence. Hence Christians ought ne- 
cessarily to yield obedience to the civil 
officers and laws of the land ; unless 
they should command something sinful ; 
in which case it is a duty to obey God 
rather than man. Acts v. 29. 

ARTICLE XVII. 
Of Christ's return to Judgment. 
Our churches also teach, that at the 
end of the world, Christ will appear for 
judgment ; that he will raise all the 
dead ; that he will give to the pious and 
elect eternal life and endless joys, but 
will condemn wicked men and devils to 
be punished without end. They reject 
the opinions of the Anabaptists, who 
maintain, that the punishment of devils 
and condemned men will have an end : 
in like manner they condemn those, 
who circulate the Judaizing notion, that, 
prior to the resurrection of the dead, 
the pious will engross the government 
of the world, and the wicked be every 
where oppressed. [German : The pi- 
ous will establish a separate temporal 
government, and all the wicked be ex- 
terminated.] 

ARTICLE XVIIL 
Of Free Will. 

Concerning free will our churches 
teach, that the human will possesses 
some liberty for the performance of civil 
duties, and for the choice of those 
things lying within the control of rea- 
son. But irt does not possess the power, 
without the influence of the Holy Spirit, 
of being, just before God, or yielding 
spiritual obedience i for the natural 
man receiveth not the things which are 
of the Spirit of God : but this is accom- 
plished in the heart, when the Holy 
Spirit is received through the word. 

[The same is declared by Augustin in 
similar words : ' We confess that the will 
of man is free, having indeed the judg- 
ment of reason, not by which it may, in 
those things that pertain to God, be able, 
without Him, either to begin or accom- 
plish any thing ; but only in actions, good 



APPENDIX. 



hatere amicuih, velie iijS)ere indumenta, 

velle fabricare domum, uxorem velle 

ducere, pecora nutrire, artem discere 

diversarum rerum bonarum, velle quic- 

quid bonum ad prassentem pertinet 

vitam. Quae omnia non sine divino gu- 

bernaculo subsistunt, imo ex ipso et per 

ipsum sunt et esse cceperant. Malis 

verd dico, ut est ; velle idolum colere, 

velle homicidium, etc. Damnant Pela- 

gianos, et alios, qui docent, quod sine 

Spiritu Sancto, solis naturae viribus, 

possimus Deum super omnia diligere, 

item prsecepta Dei facere, quoad sub- 

^tantiam actuum. Quanquam enim ex- 

t^Tcns. opera aliquo modo efficere natura 

pp.ssit : potest enim continere manus a 

furto, a cffide ; tamen interiores motus 

non potest efficere, ut timorem Dei, 

fiduciam erga Deum, castitatem, patien- 

ti&m etc 

' _ '31B ow Jjsrli svsiisci sw aodv/ 

Xiouiiiqotq bns loUlhsai mo hsinioqqB 

-nor-e-i ?! isiUb^ orfj doid'r- yd 90ilho£a 

XIX. De Causa PEGCATi.v;~,..r;; 

De caiisar peccati docent, quod ta- 
'xnetsi Deus creat et conservat riaturaftJ, 
tamen causa peccati est voluntas ma- 
lorura, videlicit, diaboli et impiorum, 
quae non adjuvante Deo, avertit se a 
Deo/ sicut Christ us ait Joh. 8. Cum 
loquitur mendacium, ex seipso loquitur. 

i'ii-g edi ei Ji ^asvlaati/ojj lo Jofl isdi bnB 
bluoik -H-o tasi LnA eO:sa \boO I0 

91" XX. DE^»SWis9i9t^l?#. ^^^^3 

^' Falso accusantilr MstM, " $iod ' 1^na 
opera prohibeant. Nam scripta eo- 
rum, quae extant de decern praeceptis, 
et alia simili argumento testantur, 
quod utiliter docUerint de 6'mnibus 
vitae generibus et officiis, quai genera 
vitae, quae opera in qua,libet vbcatione 
Deo placeant. De quibus rebus olim 
parum docebant Concionatores, tan- 
tum puerilia et non necessaria opera 
urgebant, ut certas ferias, cefta jejunia, 
frateruitates, peregrinationes, cullus 
sanctorum, rosaria, monachatum et si- 
milia. Hsec adversarii nostri admoniti 
non dediscunt, nec perinde prsedicant 
haec inutilia opera, ut olim. Praeterea 
incipiunt fidei mentionem facere, de 
qua olim mirum erat silentium. Do- 
cent, nos non tantum operibus justifi- 



as weif as:' evdj'^^^hw p^^Li^iTt'lite'' '^1^ 
good, I mean those which arise from the 
good of nature ; for instance, the desiife 
to labour, to eat and drink, to have^S 
friend, have clothing, build a house, mar- 
ry a wife, feed cattle, learn the arts of all 
useful things, to choose any thing which 
concerns this present life; all which, 
however, do not subsist independently of 
the Divine government ; nay, rather, they 
are of, and owe their being to, Him. But 
by evil, I mean, the desire to worship an 
idol, conceive murder,' &c. &c. They 
condemn the Pelagians, and others, who 
teach that it is possible, by the sole 
power of reason, without the aid of the 
Holy Spirit, to love God above all 
tbings, and to do his ebmmands. For, 
although nature may be able to do, after 
a certain manner, external actions, as to 
lieep one's hands from theft, from mur- 
"der, &c. ; yet it cannot perform the in- 
ner motions, such as, the fear of God, 
Jaith in God, chastity, patience, &C.3 

ob sar.. : : ARTICLE XIX;3lii9v ^ir 
C2 ,ri> ^ Of THE :ArTHOB or Siic;?du obii 
- : On this subject iheyvteach, .tJiatTal- 
ithough God is the Creator :and Rcej- 
server of univei'sal nature ; theicauseoof 
sin must be sought in the depraved; will 
oi the devil and wicked men, which, 
when destitute of divine aid,, turns; itself 
away from God : agreeably to: thejdie- 
:^aration of Christ, ' When he speakethja 
4ie, hespeaketh of his own.' John viiij4^ 



ARTICLE XX. 



T Good vvpeks. 
" "^Giir writers" are falsely accused" of 
prohibiting good : works. Their publi- 
cations on the ten commandments, and 
other similar subjects, shew, that they 
gave good instructions concerning all 
the different stations and duties of life, 
and explained what course of conduct, 
in any particular calling, is pleasing 
to God. Concerning these things 
preachers formerly said very little, but 
urged the necessity of puerile and use- 
less works, such as certain holy-days, 
fasts, brotherhoods, pilgrimages, wor- 
ship of saints, rosaries, monastic vows,&c. 
These useless things, our adversaries, 
having been admonished, no longer teach 
as formerly. Moreover, they now begin 
to make mention of faith, about which 
thev formerlv observed a marvellous si- 



APPENDIX. 



529 



cari, sed conjungunt fidom ot opera, et 
dicunt, nos fide et opcribus justificari. 
Quae doctrina tolerabilior est priore, et 
plus afFere potest consolationis, quiim 
vetus ipsorum doctrina. Cum igitur 
doctrina de fide, quam oportet in eccle- 
sia prsecipuam esse, tarn diu jacuerit 
ignota, quemadmodum fateri omnes ne- 
cesse est, de fidei justitia altissimum 
silentium fuisse in concionibus, tantum 
doctrinam operum versatam esse in Ec- 
clesiis, nostri de fide sic admonuerunt 
Ecclesias. Principio, quod opera nos- 
tra non possint reconciliare Deum, aut 
merere remissionem peccatorum, et gra- 
tiam, et justificationem, sed banc tan- 
tum fide eonsequimur, credentes quod 
propter Christum recipiamur in gra- 
tiam, qui solus positus est mediator et 
propitiatorium, per quam reconcilietur 
pater. Itaque qui confidit, operibus se 
mereri gratiara, is aspernatur Christi 
meritum et gratium, et quaerit sine 
Christo humanis viribus viam ad Deum, 
cum Christus de se dixerit : Ego sum 
via, Veritas et vita. Hsec doctrina de 
fide ubique in Paulo tractatur, (Eph. 2.) 
* Gratia salvi facti estis perfidem, et hoc 
non ex vobis. Dei donura est non ex 
operibus,' etc. Et ne quis cavilletur, a 
nobis novam Pauli interpretationem ex- 
cogitari, tota hasc. causa habet testimo- 
nia Patrum. Nam Augustinus multis 
voluminibus defendit gratiam et justiti- 
am fidei contra merita operum. Et 
similia docet Ambrosius de vocatione 
Gentium, et alibi. Sic enim inquit de 
vocatione gentium : Vilesceret redem- 
tio sanguinis Christi, nec misericordise 
Dei humanorum operum prasrogativa 
succumberet, si justificatio quae fit per 
gratiam, merites prsecedentibus debe- 
retur, ut non munus largientis, sed mer- 
ces esset operantis. Quanquam autem 
haec doctrina contemnitur ab imperitis, 
tamen experiuntur piae ac pavidae con- 
scientiae, plurimum eam consolationis 
afferre, quia conscientiae non possunt 
reddi tranquillae per ulla opera, sed 
tantum fide, cum certo statuunt, quod 
propter Christum habeant placatum De- 
um, Quemadmodum Paulus docet, 
(Rom. V.) ' Justificati per fidem, pacem 
habemus apud Deum.' Tota haec doc- 
trina ad iilud certamen perterrefactae 
conscientiae referenda est, nec sine illo 

2 



lencc. They now teach, that we are 
not justified by works alone, but join 
faith to works, and maintain that we 
are justified by faith and works. This 
doctrine is more tolerable than their 
former belief, and is calculated to im- 
part more consolation to the mind. In- 
asmuch, then, as the doctrine concern- 
ing faith, which should be regarded as 
a principal one by the church, had so 
long been unknown ; for all must con- 
fess, that concerning the righteousness 
of faith, the most profound silence 
reigned in their sermons, and the doc- 
trine concerning works alone was dis- 
cussed in the churches ; our divines 
have admonished the churches as fol- 
lows: — First, that our works cannot 
reconcile us to God, or merit the remis- 
sion of sins, or grace, or justification: 
but this we can attain only by faith, 
when we believe that we are accepted 
by grace, for Christ's sake, who alone is 
appointed our mediator and propitiatory 
sacrifice, by which the Father is recon- 
ciled. He, therefore, who expects to 
merit grace by his works, casts con- 
tempt, on the merits of Christ, and is 
seeking the way to God, in his own 
strength^ without the Saviour ; who ne- 
vertheless has told us, ' I am the way, 
the truths and the life.' iiThis doctrine 
concerning faith, is incessantly incul- 
cated by the apostle Paul, (Ephes. ii.) 
' Ye are saved by grace, through faith, 
and that not of yourselves, it is the gift 
of God,' &c. And lest any one should 
cavil at our interpretation, and charge 
it with novelty, we staje that this whole 
matter is supported by the testimony of 
the fathers. For Augustin devotes se- 
veral volumes to the defence of grace, 
and the righteousness of faith, in op- 
position to the merit of good works. 
And Ambrosius, on the calling of the 
Gentiles, &c. inculcates the same doc- 
trine. But although this doctrine is 
despised by the ignorant ; the con- 
sciences of the pious and timid find it 
a source of much consolation, for they 
cannot attain tranquillity in any works, 
but in faith alone, when they entertain 
the confident belief that, for Christ's 
sake, God is reconciled to them. Thus 
Paul teaches us, Rom. v. ' Being justi- 
fied by faith, we have peace with God.' 

M 



530 



ACTENDIX. 



certamine intelligi potest. Quare male 
judicant de ea re homines imperiti et 
prophani, qui Christianamjustitiam nihil 
esse somniant, nisi civilem et philoso- 
phicam justitiam. Glim vexabantur con- 
scientise doctrina operum non audiebant 
ex evangelio consolationem. Quosdam 
conscientia expulit in desertum, in mo- 
nasteria, sperantes ibi se gratiam meri- 
turos esse per vitam monasticam. Alii 
alia excogitaverunt opera, ad prome- 
rendam gratiam et satisfaciendum pro 
peccatis. Ideo magnopere fuit opus, 
banc doctrinam de fide in Christum 
tradere, et renovare, ne deesset consola- 
tio pavidis conscientiis, sed scirent, fide 
in Christum apprehendi grcatiam et re- 
missionem peccatorum et justificatio- 
nem. Admonentur etiam homines, quod 
hie nomen fidei non significet lantum 
historise notitiam, qualis est in impiis 
et diabolo, sed significet fidem, quse 
credit non tantum historiam, sed etiam 
efFectum historise, videlicet hunc articu- 
lum, Remissionem peccatorum, quod vi- 
delicet per Christum habeamus gratiam, 
justitiam et remissionem peccatorum. 
Jam qui scit, se per Christum habere 
propitium Patrem, is vere novit Deum, 
scit se ei cune esse, invocat eum ; Deni- 
que non est sine Deo sicut gentis. Nam 
diaboli et impii non possunt hunc articu- 
lum credere, Remissionem peccatorum. 
Ideo Deum tanquam hostem oderunt, non 
invocant eum, nihil boni ab eo expec- 
tant. Augustinus etiam de fidei nomine 
hoc modo admonet lectorem et docet, 
in scripturis nomen fidei accipi, non pro 
notitia, qualis est in impiis, sed pro 
fiducia, quse consolatur et erigit per- 
terrefactas mentes. Praeterea docent 
nostri, quod necesse sit bona opera 
facere, non ut confidamus per ea gratiam 
merer], sed propter voluntatem Dei. 
Tantum fide apprehendituv reraissio 
peccatorum ac gratia. Et quia per 
fidem accipitur Spiritus Sanctus, jam 
corda renovantur, et induunt novus afFec- 
tus, ut parere bona opera possint. Sic 
enim ait Ambrosius : Fides bonse vo- 
luntatis, et justae actionis genetrix est. 
Nam huraanse vires, sine Spiritu Sancto, 
plense sunt impiis alFectibus, et sunt 
imbecilliores, qiiam ut bona opera pos- 
sint efficere coram Deo. Adhaec, sunt 
in potestate diaboli, qui impellit hominis 



This whole doctrine must be referred to 
the conflict in the conscience of the 
alarmed sinner, nor can it be otherwise 
understood. Hence the ignorant and 
worldly-minded are much mistaken, 
who vainly imagine that the righteous- 
ness of the Christian is nothing else 
than what in common life and in thq 
language of philosophy is termed mo^ 
rality. Formerly the consciences of 
men were harassed by the doctrine jy^, 
works, nor did they receive any consoj^ 
lation from the gospel. Some followed 
the dictates of conscience into desert3jj 
and into monasteries ; hoping there ,^0^ 
merit the divine favour by a monastic; 
life. Others invented different kinds, 9^ 
works, to merit grace, and make satiis- 
faction for their sins. There was ther)^- 
fore the utmost necessity, that this doq- 
trine concerning faith in Christ should 
be inculcated anew ; in order that timid 
minds might find consolation, and know 
that justification and the remission of sins 
are obtained by faith in the Saviour. 
The people are also now instructed, 
that faith does not signify a mere his- 
torical belief, such as wicked men and 
devils have ; but that in addition to a 
historical belief, it includes an acquaint- 
ance with the consequences of the his- 
tory, such as remission of sins, by grace 
through Christ, righteousness, &c. &c. 
Now he who knows that the Father is 
reconciled to him through the Son, pos- 
sesses a true acquaintance with God, 
confides in his providence, and calls 
upon his name : and is therefore not 
without God as are the Gentiles. For 
the devil and wicked men cannot be- 
lieve the article concerning the remis- 
sion of sins. But they hate God as an 
enemy, do not call upon his name, nor 
expect any thing good at his hands. Au- 
gustin, in speaking of the word faith, 
admonishes the reader that In scripture 
this word does not signify mere know- 
ledge, such as wicked men possess, but 
that confidence or trust by which 
alarmed sinners are comforted and lifted 
up. We moreover teach, that the per- 
formance of good works is necessary, 
because it is commanded of God, and 
not because we expect to merit grace 
by them. Pardon of sins and grace are 
obtained only by faith. And because 



x\PPENDIX. 



531 



ad varia peccata, ad impias opiniones, 
ad manifesta scelera. Quemadmodum 
est videre in philosophis qui et ipsi 
conati honeste vivere, tamen id non 
potuerunt efficere, sed contaminati sunt 
multis manifestis sceleribus. Talis est 
imbecilitas hominis, cum est sine fide et 
sine Spiritu Sancto, et tantum humanis 
viribus se gubei'nat. Hinc facile appa- 
ret, banc doctrinam non esse accusandam, 
quod bona opera prohibeat, sed multo 
magis laudandam, quod ostendit, quo- 
modo bona opera facere possimus. Nam 
sine fide nuUo modo potest humana na- 
tura primi aut secundi prsscepti opera 
facere. Sine fide non invocat Deum, a 
Deo nihil expectat, non tolerat crucem, 
sed quaerit humana prsesidia, confidit hu- 
manis praesidiis. Ita regnant in corde 
omnes cupiditates, et humana concilia, 
ciim abest fides et fiducia erga Deum. 
Quare et Christus dixit : Sine me nihil 
potestis facere, Joh. 15. Et Ecclesia 
canit : Sine tuo numine, nihil est in 

homine, nihil est innoxium. 

.bbJoJJiJsXU wo/i osifi &lqo9q 9fiX 

•zid 919m £ '(^iirrgis Jon asob diidt isdi 
boB asm bsioiw ae douz ^'tsilsd LboitoJ 
B Oj ao'iiibbs as iBdi tod j evBd Blivsb 
-iffifiupoB fl6 aebxfbni ii ^eilsd hohoizid 
-aid srfl lo 29onyup9anoo sdl dfm 9onB 
oosrg \d gSniB "io nohBimQi as dous tVioJ 
^&&9aBi!oeid-gh ^lihdO dguoiifJ 
&i ledisi odi isdt ewo^i odn ed woM 
-8oq ,noS edi xf^woid} mid oi bsUoaoos'i 
,bo£j dim sooEkiisupoG sini b 89889a 
sIIbo ba£ ,9on9bfvoiq zid ai ssBEnoo 
Jon 9TOl9T9dJ 81 briB : omna iid noqxj 
ioIl .eelxJasO 9dt 91jb eb boO iuodl'm 
-od JoflflBo ngm bsaoiw bn£ ihab adi 
-gimai 9dJ ^nimsDnoo gloitiB edi 9V9i! 
tiB 8B boO 9jBd xddi iu8. .snia \o nois 
ion ,9mi5n ^id aoqu llsio ion ob ^\mda9 

^" rle cultu sanctorum docent, quod 
■methoria sanctorum proponi potest, ut 
imitemur fidem eorum, et bona opera 
juxta vocationem ; Ut Caesar imitari 
potest exemplum Davidis in bello ge- 
rendo ad depellendos Turcas a patria. 
Nam uterque rex est. Sed scriptura 
non docet invocare sandos, seu petere 
auxilium a Sanctis. Quia unum Christum 
nobis proponit mediatorem, propitiato- 
rium, Pontificem et intercessorem. Hie 
invocandus est, et promisit, se exaudi- 



the Hoi}' Spirit is Wceiveii t'y ifaitli, 
the heart of man is renovated, and new 
affections produced, that he may be 
able to perform good works. Accord- 
ingly Ambrosius states, faith is the 
soiu-ce of holy volitions and an upright 
life. For the faculties of man, un- 
aided by the Holy Spirit, are replete 
with sinful propensities, and too feeble 
to perform works that are good in the 
sight of God. They are moreover under 
the influience of Satan, who urges men 
to viarious crimes, and impious opinions, 
and manifest offences ; as may be seeh 
in the examples of the philosophers who, 
though they endeavoured to lead per- 
fetJtly moral lives, failed to accomplish 
their design, and were guilty of many 
notorious crimes. Such is the imbe- 
cility of man, when he undertakes td 
govern himself by his own strength' 
without faith and the Holy Spirit^ 
From all this it is manifest, that our 
doctrine, instead of desernng censure 
for the prohibition of good works, ought 
liluch rather to be applauded, for teach- 
ing' the manner in which truly good 
•^v'orks can be perforrhed. For without 
faith, human nature is incapable of per- 
fbrming the duties either of the first or 
second table. ^Vithout it, man does 
not call upon God, nor expect any thing 
n-om him, but seeks refuge amongst 
men, and reposes on human aid. Hence 
when faith and confidence in God are 
wanting, all evil desires and human 
schemes reign in the heart ; as Christ 
says, ' without me ye can do nothing,' 
'^John XV. ; and the church responds, 
"tTithout thy favour there is nothing good 

in man. r ^ 

£-i9qo snoci ii-i ^aeaoea r>oup ^iiiaou 

rfiBiJBT^&Bc 'A'RTlBtM^iSf}^^- '^'^^^""^ 
•^^^O^'lHE Invocation 'bF/-|iiNTS. 

Concerning the invocation of saints 
our churches teach, that the saints 
ought to be held in remembrance, in 
order that we may, each in his own 
calling, imitate their faith and good 
works ; that the emperor may imitate 
the example of Da\'id, in carrying on 
war to expel the Turks from our 
country ; for both are kings. But the 
sacred volume does not teach us to 
invoke saints or to seek aid from them. 
For it proposes Christ to us as our 
M 2 



APPENDim 



tui-atti •(^64- |)rel3ies'lidk;ras, et himc cul- 
tum maxime probat, videlicit ut invo- 
cetilr in omnibus aflictionibus, 1 Job. ii. 
Si quis peccat, habemus advbcatum 
apud Deum, etc. Haec fei esumma, est 
doctrinse apud nos, in qua cerni potest, 
nihil inesse, quod discrepit a scripturis, 
vel ab Ecclesia Catholica, vel ab Eccle- 
sia Romana quatenus ex scriptoribus 
riota est. Quod cum ita sit, inclemen- 
tef judicant isti, qui nostras pro haere- 
ticis haberi postulant, sed dissensio est 
de quibusdam abusibus, qui sine certa 
auctoritate in Ecclesias irrepserunt, in 
quibus etiam, si qua esset dissimilitude, 
tamen decebat hsec lenitas Episcopos, 
ut propter confessionem, quam modo 
recenstiimus, tolerarent nostros, quia 
ne canones quidem tam duri sunt, ut 
eosdem ritus ubique esse postulent, 
neque similes unquam omnium Ecclesi- 
iarum ritus fuerunt. Quanquam apud 
nos magna exparte veteres ritus diligen- 
ter servantur. Falsa enim calumnia est, 
qUod omnes ceremoniae, omnia velera 
instituta iii Ecclesiis nostris aboleantur. 
Verum publica querela fuit, abusus 
quosdam, in vulgaribus ritibus hserere. 
Hi quia non poterant bona conscientia 
probari, aliqua ex parte c(|(;r&c,ti sunt. 

1o inuoooB no Aasn its'vs 1o anoaiaq « 
lo \iUu-^ 919W orfw jaJashq sdi \o asv i 
njs iuq 03 lebio al „rio}iq jasrfgirf eib 
mo lo ffiisvsa jaaoiJoBiq bw9l larfJo bnf- 
ni isA^ fOififosb asvfoainsifj priT „9jj 
ba-iOBz B bns toongioanoo lo 89*fi*oxB si 
»qB aBW s'gBh-iBm isds ^su amiolni ^(1 
oT ' (.S J^^r aoD I) ,a^(B8 IubH. as 
YTism oi wiiod ai il * ^rffR'oA \^hn f,- 



only mediator, propitiktion| fei^h Spriest, 
and intercessor. On his name we are 
to call, and he promises, that he will 
hear our prayers, and highly approves 
of this worship, viz. : that he should be 
called upon in every affliction, 1 John 
ii. : ' If any one sin, we have an advo- 
cate with the Father,' &e. This is the 
substance of our doctrines, from which 
it is evident, that they contain nothing 
inconsistent witb the scriptures, or' 
opposed either to the catholic (uniTOi'4 
sal) or to the Roman church, so ht 
as they accord with scripture. Under 
these circumstances, those certainly 
judge harshly, who would have us re* 
garded as heretics. But the difference 
of opinion between us relates to certain 
abuses,whieh have creptinto the churches 
without any good authority ; in regard 
to which, if we do differ, the bishops 
ought to treat with lenity and tolerate 
us, on account of the confession, which 
we have just made. For; even the 
canons of the church are not so ipgid^ 
as ta require every where a uniformity 
of rites ^ nor hsnsB^ theirites pf .alLthe 
churches ever been the same. Never- 
theless, the ancient rites of the church 
we have in general carefully retained. 
For it is a slanderous charge, that all 
the ancient customs a!nd institutions are 
abolished in our churches. But there 
was a general complaint, that some 
abuses had crept into the customary 
rites ; and these, because we could not 
with a good conscience retain them, we 
have in part corrected. , 

_ ousoimoi blovrn 

. =-vr^ Pr-n lo >-r^'U-s^r^ :b '---^^ c: -:. ' , ctwd oi asdS 

'THE CORRUPTIONS IN THE CATHOLIC CHURCH SPIififJ^lfc 
THE REFORMERS CORRECTED.* - - 

In addition to the preceding confession of their faith, the confessors also submitted 
to the Diet a list of the corruptions which had crept into the Roman church, and 
which had been corrected by them. As this list of abuses Corrected, is seldom 
found annexed to the modern editions of the confessions, and will moreover not be 
entirely superfluous at the preserit day, we here present them to the reader, fl-^fii 
the authentic German edition of Dr. Baumgarten.' v^^■JL^a^ido■lq^{ti ohmoi 

' mds ooai& oalsiibivibni 
CHAPTER L , oifi ,8j09mJoBfl9 10 8WOV 

Communion in one 



has Ti^Cy^^' Communion IN one Kin^^^^ ^^^^^^ Is^ulaoo 

As there is nothing contained in the doctrines of our churches, incpnsistentr>w,^ 
scripture, or with the catholic church j and as we have merely rejected certain abusgjs, 

* The Translation of these chapters, on the abuses which crept into the church, is from 
the work of Dr. Schia acker, already refen-ed to, with the exception of cc. iiu iv.-and 
vii., which having been very much abridged or omitted by Dr. S,, the Editor has supplied. 



53a 



sdmc <pf WhSch hkd in -the course irf tune crept int«> ithe^iCb>wi?0h) whikt <othei^s w^ri? , 
forcibly introduced into it; necessity demands that wo Should give some account^! 
of them, and assign the reasons which induced us to admit the alterations, in order-, 
that your imperial majesty may perceive that nothing was done in this matter in ajit 
unchristian or presumptuous manner, but that we were compelled to admit thes^ 
alterations by the word of God, which is justly to l^e held in higher regard than any, 
customs of the church. In our churches, communion is administered to the laity in? 
both kinds, because we regard this as a manifest command and precept of Chri&ti? 
Matt. xxvi. 27. ' Drink ye all of it.' In this passage Christ teaches, in the plainesfe 
terms, that they should all drink out of the cup. ; And in order that no one n^ayy 
be able to cavil at these words, and explain them as referring to the clergy alone^t 
Paul informs us, that the entire church at Corinth received the sacrament in bot]b| 
kinds, 1 Cor. xi. 26. And this custom was retained in the church, as is proved by, 
history and the writings of the fathers^ Cyprian frequently mentions the fact that 
in his day, the cup was given to the laity. St. Jerome also says, the priests who 
administer the sacrament, dispense the blood of Christ to the people. And pop§ 
Gelasius himself commanded, that the sacrament should not be divided. (Distinct^) 
2. de Consecrat. cap. Coraperimus.) There is no canon extant which commands tha| 
one kind alone should be received. Nor can it be ascertained when, or by whom, th^ 
custom of receiving bread alone was introduced, although cardinal Cusanus mention 
the time when it was approved. Now it is evident, that such a custom, introduc§4 
contrary to the divine command, and jalso in opposition to the ancient canons,, 
wrong. It was therefore improper to coerce and oppress the conscience of thjo^gt 
who wished to receive the sacrament, agreeably to the appointment of Christ, an^ 
compel them to violate the institution of our Lord. And inasmuch as the dividii^p 
of the sacrament is contrary to its institution by Christ, the host is not carri§4 
ak)ut iiK pntBJessiQS- ajpasn^t u^.i : , i; 1 r w saV 

'iB'^aVl «9mB8 oA) nasd t9V9 asiiomb /j' nx ^ntsbaonp 

dowdo odi "io asJn Iraini^ i^iiM'TMt^ Hi -'--' ^ ■ '^ -'^--- -'-l «on smp iH ' 
.boniBJst xlMsi&o fer rj,^^ Celibacy of TttWtoW.» ^^'^^^ ^"P''^^ .hfidoiq 

There has been general complaint among persons of every rank on account of 
the scandalous licentiousness and lawless lives of the priests ; who were guilty of 
lewdness, and whose excesses had risen to the highest pitch. In order to put an 
end to such odious conduct, to adultery, and other lewd practices, several of our 
ministers have entered the matrimonial state. They themselves declare, that in 
taking this step they were influenced by the dictates of conscience, and a sacred 
regard for the holy volume, which expressly informs us, that marriage was ap- 
pointed of God to prevent licentiousness: as Paul says, (1 Cor. vii. 2.) 'To 
avoid fornication, let every Tngm^havp big nwn wifp.' Againj ' It is better to marry 
than to burn ;' (1 Cor. vii. 9,) and according to the declaration of Christ, that not 
all men can receive this word, (Matt. xix. 12.) In this passage Christ hlilaself, 
who well knew what was in man, declares that few persons are qualified to live in 
>cclibacy ; for ' God created us male and female,' (Gen. i. 27.) And experieiiqe 
•hg* abundantly proved how vain is the attempt to alter the nature or meliorate the 
character of God's creatures by mere human purposes or vows, without a peculiar 
gift or grace of God. It is notorious that the effort has been prejudicial to purity 
;f)f morals ; and in how many cases it has occasioned distress of mind, and the mqs^ 
terrific apprehensions of conscience, is known by the confessions of nujtn^rQt^ 
individuals. Since then the word and law of God cannot be altered by human 
vows or enactments, the priests for this and otKer reasons have entered into the 
conjugal state. It is moreover evident from the testimony of history and the 
writings of the fathers, that it was customary in former ages for priests and deacons 
to be married. Hence the injunction of Paul to Timothy, (1 Tim. iii. 2.) ' A 
bishop then must be blameless, the husband of otie wife.' ,It^ is but four hundred 

h'j'A'iqm and jolii-Zi yd ' r j; - . i/O'iiOio £0 l/j 'Jj'-fi')r, d ihia rv.^-i is-i-M ^Uiv;>:. J jal .k--- 



534 



APPENDIX. 



monial life, and submit to a vow of celibacy ; and so generally and resolutely did 
they resist this tyranny, that the archbishop of Mayence, who published this papal 
edict, was well nigh losing his life in a commotion excited by the measure. And 
in so precipitate and arbitrary a manner was that decree executed, that the pope 
not only prohibited all future marriage of the priests, but even cruelly rent asunder 
the social ties of those who had long been living in the bonds of lawful wedlock, 
thus violating alike not only the laws of God, and the natural and civil rights of the 
citizen, hut even the canons which the popes themselves made, and the decrees of the 
most celebrated councils ! It is the deliberate and well-known opinion of many dis- 
tinguished, pious, and judicious men, that this compulsory celibacy and prohibition 
of matrimony f which God himself instituted and left optional), has been productive 
of no good, but is the prolific source of numerous and abominable vices. Yea, even 
one of the popes, Pius II., himself declared, as history informs us, that though tl^e^e 
may be several reasons why the marriage of priests should be prohibited, there .a^ije 
many more and weightier ones why it should not. And doubtless this was the deli^p- 
rate declaration of Pius,who was a sensible and wise man. We would therefore cori- 
fidently trust, that your majesty, as a Christian emperor, will graciously reflect, that in 
these latter days, to which reference is made in the sacred volume, the world has be- 
come still more degenerate, and mankind more frail and liable to temptation. It will 
be w£ll to beware, lest, by the prohibition of marriage, licentiousness and vice be pro- 
moted in the German States. For on this subject no man can devise better or 
more salutary laws than those enacted by God, who himself instituted marriage for 
the promotion of virtue amongst men. The ancient canons also enjoin that the 
rigour of huinaji enactments must on some subjects be accommodated to the infi,!"- 
mities of human nature, in order to avoid greater evils. Such a course would in 
this case be necessary and Christian ; for what injury could result to the church, 
from the marriage of the clergy, and others who are to serve in the church ? y^. 
it is probable that the church will be but imperfectly supplied with minister^, 
should this rigorous prohibition of marriage be continued. If therefore it is 
evident from the divine word and command, that matrimony is lawful in ministers, 
and history teaches that their practice formerly was conformed to this precept j ,if 
it is evident that the vow of celibacy has been productive of the most scandaloiiis 
and unchristian conduct, of adultery, unheard-of licentiousness, and other abomi- 
nable crimes, among the clergy, as some of the dignitaries at Rome have themselves 
often confessed and lamented, it is a lamentable thing that the Christian estate of 
matrimony has not only been presumptuously forbidden, but in some places speedy 
punishment been inflicted as though it were a heinous crime ! Matrimony is more- 
over declared a lawful and honourable estate, by the laws of your imperial majesty 
' and by the code of every empire in which justice and law prevailed. Of late, 
however, innocent subjects, and especially ministers, are cruelly tormented on 
account of their marriage. Nor is such conduct a violation of the divine laws 
alone; it is equally opposed to the canons of the church. The apostle Paul 
denominates that a doctrine of devils which forbids marriage, (1 Tim. iv. 1, 3.) 
And Christ says, (John viii. 44.) ' The devil is a murderer from the beginning.' 
For that may well be regarded as a doctrine of devils which forbids marriage and 
enforces the prohibition by the shedding of blood. Biit as no human law can 
abrogate or change a command of God, neither can any vows produce this effect. 
Therefore Cyprian also admonishes, that if any woman do not observe the vow of 
chastity, it is better for her to be married -. ( Lib. i.) and all the canons observe more 
lenity and justice toward those who assumed the vow of celibacy in youth, as is ge- 
nerally the case with priests and monks. 

CHAPTER III. 
Op the Mass. 

Our churches are falsely accused that they abolish the mass ; for the mass is 
retained by us, and is celebrated with high reverence. Also almost all the usual 



APPENDIX. 



535 



ceremonies are observed, except that in some places German are mixed with the 
Latin songs, which are added for the purpose of teaching the people ; for cere- 
monies serve to teach the inexperienced. And not only Paul commandeth to use 
in the church a tongue which the people understand ; but also it is constituted and 
ordained by the law of man. 

The people are accustomed to use the sacrament together, if any be prepared for it; 
a:nd that also doth increase the reverence and the religion of public ceremonies ; 
for none are admitted and allowed to receive the sacrament, but such as are first 
examined. They are also admonished of the dignity and use of the sacrament, 
how great comfort it brings to fearful and trembling consciences, to the intent that 
they may learn to believe God, and ask and look for all good things from him. 

This honour delights God ; such use of the sacraments nourishes piety towards 
God. Therefore it does not appear that the mass is celebrated with more reve- 
rence among our adversaries than with us. It is undoubtedly and evidently known 
also that this hath been a common and very grievous complaint of all good men of 
a long season, that the masses have been shamefully abused and applied to lucre ; 
and every man sees how wide this abuse doth appear in all temples, and by what sort 
of men masses are said, only for reward or stipend ; how many celebrate contrary 
to the injunctions of the canons. But Paul grievously threatens those who 
treat the sacrament unworthily, when he says, ' whoso eateth this bread and 
drinketh this cup of the Ijord unworthily, shall be guilty of the body and blood of 
the Lord.' Therefore when our priests were admonished of that sin, private 
masses ceased with us, because almost all private masses were done for lucre and 
advantage. And the bishops knew of these abuses well, and if they had corrected 
them in time, there would have been less dissension than there now is. Before, 
by reason of their dissimulation and unwillingness to hear and see what was 
amiss, they suffered many vices to creep into the ckurch. Now they begin, when 
too late, to complain of the calamities and miseries of the church, when indeed 
all this tumult has arisen from no other source than these abuses, which were so 
manifest that they could he endured no longer. There are now great dissensions 
touching the mass and sacrament ; and peradventure the world ia punished for so 
"long profaning and abusing masses, which the bishops have suffered for so many 
ages in the churches, when they both could and ought to have amended them : for it 
4s written in the decalogue, that he that abuseth the name of God shall not be un- 
' punished. But since the world began, nothing that God ever ordained hath been so 
abused and turned to iilthy lucre as the mass has been. An opinion came in which 
increased private masses above measure : vir, that Christ by his passion did satisfy 
for original sin, but did institute and ordain the mass that it should be an oblation 
for daily sins, both mortal and venial. From this sprung a common opinion 
' that the mass is a work that taketh away the sins of the quick and dead, by reason 
^ of the work wrought. Then arose the dispute whether one mass for many were 
^las much worth as if for each individual a separate mass had been said. This 
' disputation brought forth an infinite multitude of masses. Of these opinions 
our preachers and learned men gave warning that they dissented from holy scrip- 
ture, and tarnished the glory of the passion of Christ. For the passion of Christ 
was an oblation and satisfaction not only for original sin, but also for all other sins ; 
, as it is written in the Hebrews, ' We are sanctified by the offering of the body of 
Jesus Christ once for all;' also * by one oblation he hath perfected for ever them 
that are sanctified.' Also the scripture teaches, that we are justified before God 
by faith in Christ, when we believe that our sins are forgiven us for Christ's sake. 
Now if the mass takes away the sins of the quick and dead even by its own 
proper virtue, their justification is the work of masses and not of faith ; which thing 
scripture denies. But Christ commands to do it in remembrance of him. Where- 
fore the mass was instituted, that faith in them that use the sacrament should 
remember what benefits it receives by Christ, and so should raise up and comfort 
the trembling and fearful conscience. For to remember Christ is to remember the 



benefits of Christ, and to think that, ti^uly and jn very deed, they are exhibited to 
us. Neither is it enough for us to remember the history ; for this wicked men and 
Jews may remember. "Wherefore the mass is to be celebrated that the sacrament 
may be administered to those who have need of comfort, Ambrose said, ' because 
I always sin, I ought always to take medicine.' Now forasmuch as the ma§s is 
sAeh a communication of the sacrament, one common mass is kept by us every hp]^ 
day ; and also on Other days, if any desire the sacrament, it is given to them th^ 
ask it. AM this manner is not new in the church. For the old fathers befor^.. 
Gregory speak nothing of the private^ but very much of the common,, mass. Chryj., 
sostom says, ' That the priest standeth, daily at the altar, and some he calls to 
communion, and others he keeps away.' And it appears by the old canons 
tbati some one priest di4 celebrate the mass, and from him all the other priests 
and deacons received the body of the Lord ; for so are the words of thfe 
canon of Nice, Let deacons in order after the priests receive communion frp^: 
the bishop or priests. . And Paul, speaking of the communion, commandsj^ 
that one should tarry for another that there may be a common participation^ 
Forafemuoh then as the mass, according to us, has the example of the church 
tikeh'-sout of the holy scriptures and; fathers, we trust that it cannot be improved j 
espeoially; sarice the ceremonies are, for the most part, k^pt. 

iri the usual waypaonly the number of masses is unlike; which, for great aaf| 
manifest abuses,' It were profitable at least to moderate. For in times pa&t Ka^fi^r 
Was not celebrated every day, not even in great congregations, and where mo§t„ 
people assembled togetiier, as the Tripartite history, lib. ix. cap. 38. testifi^i^ 
Again, in Alexandria scriptures are read on Wednesdays and Fridays, and doctor^ 
expound them, and all things ai:e doa«>; iWithout the solemn custom of the oblation. 

oiu oi Maoambwd liomonKs QdicAfP T E R- I¥,,f^ ^y^UnhlT Jjao on i. 
orfi iai bnB .lis msdi sYisgdo g^rCoKFEssioN. .^w fi-tol Msm\o asl- 

Confession-is not done away in our cburches; for tlie body of the £ord is not 
delivered to any except they are first examined and absolved. And the people are 
most diligently instructed in the faith of absolution : of which before this tiir?^ 
there was little mention. The people arc taught to hold the absolxition in greuf 
esteem; because it is the voice of God, and pronounqed by His command. The 
power of the keys is bighly extolled, by sbewing how much comfort it brings to 
troubled consciences ; and that God requires faith that we should give credence 
that absolution as to a voice sounding from heaven; and that faith in Christ tru!f^ 
obtains ancl receives remission of sins. '"^ 

Before this, satisfactions were too much magnified, but there was no mentidS? 
<jf faith and the merits of Christ, and of the righteousness of faith; wherefore in? 
this our churches are not to be blamed. For even our adversaries are compell^ct' 
to admit, that the doctrine of penance is most diligently treated and opened by 6'\i? 
divines.; But concerning confession tliey teach that the enumeration of sins is not 
necessary; and that consciences are not to be charged with the care of reckoning 
lip all faults,, for it is impossible to rehearse all sins, as the prophet records, say- 
ing, ' Who- can understand his errors?' Jeremiah also says, ' The heart of man '^1 
deceitful above all things,, and desperately wicked.' Wherefore if no sins should 1^ 
forgiven but those which can be rehearsed, consciences could never be quietedf 
for many sins they neither see nor remember. Also, old writers witness that tti^ 
numbering of sins is not necessary, for, in the decrees, Chrysostom is cited speaik- 
ing thus : ' I say not to thee that thou shew thyself openly, nor ac use thys^n 
before others, but I wish th.ee to obey the prophet, saying, ' declare thy way befofi 
God;' therefore confess thy sins, with prayer, unto God the true judge. Lay opcft 
the sins not with the tongue, but with the memory of thy conscience,' &c. Sec. 
And the gloss concerning pc;nance acknowledges that confession is of huraaHi 
&atliority. _ 



537 



oJ boMidxo 01B x^di ,boob 'J1G7 f^J^r^y^ Anhii oj bns .JenriO lo eJifonad 

inofctr,T>m ^ff;t Isrf? f)9:?i;'fif'iOF Divebsity of MEAX^vf^SW rr,,,,.,-,^ -.- -r ,-. 

The doctnne was formerly inculcated, that the diversity of meats and other k 
human traditions were useful in order to merit grace arid make satisfaction for sin.. 
Hence new fasts, new ceremonies, and new orders, were daily invented, and 
strenuously insisted on as necessary parts of worship, the neglect of which was 
attended with heinous guilt. Thus occasion was given to many scandalous cor-;; 
ruptions in the church. In the first , place, the grace of Christ and the doctrine) 
Concerning faith are thereby obscured. Yet these doctrines are inculcated in the 
gospel with great solemnity, the merits of Christ are represented as of the utmost' 
importance, and faith in the Redeemer is placed far above all human merits. Hencsei 
the apostle Paul inveighs bitterly against the observance of the Mosaic ritual aihds: 
human traditions, in order to teach us that we acquire righteousness and grace noto 
by our own works, but by faith in Christ. This doctrine was however entirely'i 
obscured by the notion that grace must be merited by legal observances, fasfesji 
diversities of meats, habits, &c. Secondly, such traditions were calculated toi 
obscure the divine law; for these traditions are elevated far above the wrord di; 
God. No one was regarded as leading a Christian life, who did not observe theses 
holy days, and pray, and fast, and dress^ in this peculiar manner. Truly goocjj 
Works were regarded as mere worldly matter, such as fulfilling the duties ol mtii 
calling, the labours of a father to support his family and educate them in the hmeij 
the Lord, that mothers should take charge of their children, that the governm,ejjif| 
should rule the country, &c. Such works which God has commanded, were prp-i, 
noimced worldly and imperfect, but these traditions had the credit of being, th©; 
only holy and perfect works. For these reasons, to the making of such traditions 
there was no end. Thirdly, these traditions became extremely burdensome to the 
consciences of men. For it was not- possible to observe them all, and yet the 
people were taught to regard them as necessary parts of worship. Gerson asserts 
^hat many were thus driven to despair, and some put an end to their own existence, 
because they heard of no consolation in the grace of Christ. How much the con^^ 
sciences of men were perplexed on these subjects, is evident from the writings 
those divines (summistis) who undertook to compile these traditions, and point ou¥ 
what was just and proper. So complicated an undertaking did they find it, that ifP 
the mean time the salutary doctrines of the gospel on more important subject§ii 
such as faith and consolation in affliction, and others of like import, were totall*^^ 
neglected. Accordingly many pious men of those times complained that thes# 
traditions served only to excite contention and prevent devout souls from attaining^ 
the true knowledge of Christ. Gerson and several others uttered bitter complaints 
on this subject. And Augustin also complains, that the consciences of men ough^ 
not to be burdened with these numerous and useless traditions. Our divines wer^^ 
therefore compelled by necessity, and not by contempt of their spiritual superior^,? 
to correct the erroneous views which had grown out of the misapprehension of> 
these traditions. For the gospel absolutely requires i;hat the doctrine of faith b«i 
Steadily inculcated in the churches ; but this doctrine cannot be rightly understoodf 
by those who expect to merit grace by works of their own appointment. Wei 
therefore teach that the observance of these human traditions cannot merit graced 
or atone for sins, or reconcile us unto God ; and ought therefore not to be repre>i 
sented as a necessary part of Christian duty. The proofs of this position are3 
derived from scripture. Christ excuses his apostles for not observing the traditions^ 
8^^l9f '-•'J? ^° worship me, teaching for doctrines the commandment? o.£ 
Wib'^rn^^ He calls this a vain service, it cannot be a necessary one. And, again^ 
*J?ot 'that which goeth into the mouth defileth a man.' (Matth. xv. 3, 9, 11.) 
,Again, Paul says, 'The kingdom of God is not meat and drink.' (Rom. xiv. 17.) 

Let no man tlierefore judge you in meat or in drink.' ( Col. ii, 16.) Petor 
says, *Why tempt ye God to put a yoke upon the neck of the disciples Twhich 



APPENDIX. 



neittier b'ur fatheri'^n&^'Ve' were able able to bear ? But we believe that through 
the grace of our Lord Jesus Christ we shall be saved.' (Acts xv. 10, 11.) Here 
Peter expressly forbids that the consciences of men should be burdened with mere 
external ceremonies, either those of the Mosaic ritual or others. And Paul calls 
those prohibitions which forbid meats and to be married, 'doctrines of devils.' 
(1 Tim. iv. 1, 3.) For it is diametrically contrary to the gospel either to institute 
or perform such works with a view to merit pardon of sin, or under the impression 
that no one can be a Christian who does not observe them. The charge, however, 
that we forbid the mortification of our sinful propensities, as Jovian asserts, is 
groundless. For our writers have always given instruction concerning the cross 
which it is the duty of Christians to bear. We moreover teach, that it is the duty 
of every one, by fasting and other exercises, to avoid giving any occasion to sin, but 
not to merit grace by such works. But this watchfulness over our body is to be 
observed always, not on particular days only. On this subject Christ says, ' Take 
heed to yourselves lest at any time your hearts be overcharged with surfeiting.' 
(Luke xxi. 34.) Again, ' The devils are not cast out but by fasting and prayer. 
(Matth. xvii. 21.) And Paul says, ' I keep under my body, and bring it into sub- 
jection. ' (1 Cor. ix. 27.) By which he vdshes to estimate, that this bodily discipline 
is not designed to merit grace, but to keep the body in a suitable condition for the 
several duties of our calling. We do not therefore object to fasting itself, but to 
the fact that it is represented as a necessary duty, and that specific days have been 
fixed for its performance. ' 

'- -■ - - - ' V --'- - - ■- - - - -- . 

oiis&aom Lma awov liodi o) T^o^'^f} AFTER VI. - ^^nolfi oiiw j-^olg 

qu Mod o^qidsw^r Qjn^'lo hn^ "fj.:. '■'or;oi:£t il il 

noiio^' Of Monastic Vows. jl:jc:ha<j<yi odi 

^^^'^Ih speaking of Monasticism it will be requisite to consider the light in wM<A it 
has been viewed, the disorders which have occurred iu monasteries, and the fact 
that many things are yet daily done in them contrary both to the word of God and 
the papal directions. In the time of St. Augustin the monastic life was optional; 
subsequently, when the doctrine and the discipline of monasteries were corrupted, 
vows were invented, in order that the evil might be remedied as it were by a species 
of incarceration. In addition to these monastic vows, other burdens were invented, 
by which persons were oppressed even during their minority. Many adopted this 
mode of life through ignorance, who, though of riper years, were fully acquainted 
with their infirmity. All these, in whatever way they may have been enticed or 
coerced into these vows, are compelled to remain, although even the papal regu- 
lations would liberate many of them. This severity has frequently been censured 
by many pious persons in former times ; for they well knew that both boys and 
girls were often thrust into these monasteries merely for the purpose of being sup- 
ported. They saw also the deplorable consequences of this course, and many have 
complained that the canons have been so grossly violated. Monastic vows were 
also represented in a very improper light. They were represented as equal to 
baptism, and as a method of deserving pardon and justification before God, yea as 
being not only a meritorious righteousness, but also the fulfilment of the commands 
and counsels of the gospel. They also taught that the monastic life was more 
meritorious than all the professions which God appointed such as that of minister, 
civil oificers, &c. as their own books will prove, and they cannot deny. In short, 
he that has been enticed into a monastery, will learn but little of Christ. Formerly 
schools were kept in monasteries, in which the scriptures and other things were 
taught, so that ministers and bishops could be selected from them. Now they 
pretend that the monastic life is so meritorious in the sight of God, as to be a 
state of perfection far superior to those modes of life which God himself has com- 
manded. In opposition to all this we teach, that all who do not feel inclined to a 
life of celibacy, have the power and right to marry. Their vows to the contrary 
cannot annul the command of God; ncvertlieless, to avoid fornication, 'let every 



APPENDIX. 



539 



man liave his own wife, and let every woman have her own husband.' (1 Cor. vii. 2.) 
To this course we are urged and compelled, both by the divine precepts, and the 
general nature of man, agreeably to the declaration of God himself ; ' It is not 
good for man to be alone, I will make him an help meet for him.* (Gen, ii. 18.) 
Although the divine precept concerning marriage already absolves many from their 
monastic vows, our writers assign many other reasons to demonstrate that 
they are not binding. Every species of worship invented by men, without a 
divine precept, in order to merit justification and grace, is contrary to the 
gospel and the will of God. As Christ himself says, ' But in vain do they worship 
me, teaching for doctrines the commandments of men.' (Matt.xv. 9.) Coincident 
with this is the doctrine of Paul, that we should not seek our righteousness in our 
j9wn services, invented by men ; that true righteousness in the sight of God must be 
sought in faith, and in our confidence in the mercy of God through Christ, his only 
Son. But it is notorious, that the monks represent their fictitious righteousness 
as amply sufficient to merit the pardon of sin and divine grace. But what is this 
else than to rob the merits of Christ of their glory, and to deny the righteousness of 
faith ? Hence it follovv^s, that these vows were unjust and a false worship, and of 
course not binding. For a vow to do any thing contrary to the divine command, 
that is an ' oath improper in itself, is not obligatory, as even the canons declare ; 
for an oath cannot bind us to sin.' St. Paul says to the Galatians, ' Christ is be- 
come of no effect unto you, whosoever of you are justified by the law ; ye are 
fallen from grace.' (Gal. v. 4.) Those therefore who would be justified by their 
vows, have abandoned the grace of God through Christ ; for they rob Christ of his 
glory, who alone can justify us, and transfer this glory to their vows and monastic 
life. It is moreover a corruption of the divine law and of true worship, to hold up 
the monastic life to the people as the only perfect one. For Christian perfection 
consists in this, that we love and fear God with all our heart, and yet combine with 
it sincere reliance and faith in him through Christ : that it is our privilege and 
duty to supplicate the throne of grace for such things as we need in all our trials, 
and in our respective callings-f and to give diligence in the performance of good 
works. It is in this that true perfection consists, and the true worship of God, but 
not in begging, or in a black or a white cap. This extravagant prfiise of celibacy, 
is calculated to disseminate among the people erroneous views on the sanctity of 
the married life. Examples are on record, of persons who abandoned their wives 
and children, and business, and shut themselves up in a monastery, under the vain 
impression that thus they came out from the world, and led a holier life. They 
forgot that we ought to serve , God according tO; his. own directions, and not thie 
i»yeati«ngrit>6din^B«OTp9-j't asd ^(jhQvag axHT ,modi lo xmai eis-i': ioitvA 
brifi '<f.iod rfJod jsdi wani flaw vsd? -lo*^ : somii lemioi m eaoBioq ^ . - ^ <j ..cm^ 
-qu8 ^nisd 1o Qgoqioq adi loi ■ CnAFTE&ciYrbhzedi csai iamrfj nsilo sidw ghi^ 
OYBd vfin-f V ^ Power OF 'tdn OHxinm^ ' ; ' ''^ - i 

"'*^^iere have been great disputes respecting the power of bishops, in which many 
men have injuriously mingled together the power of the church and the power of 
the sword. From this confusion the greatest wars and commotions have proceeded ; 
while the pontiffs, relying upon the power of the keys, have not only instituted new 
modes of worship — have not only, with reservation of cases, and with violent com- 
munications, burdened consciences ; but have also attempted to transfer the king- 
doms of the world, and to take away the empire from emperors. Well disposed 
and learned men have long since reproved these vices in the church. Therefore 
our preachers, for the comforting of consciences, have been compelled to shew the 
difference between the ecclesiastical power, and the power of the sword ; and have 
taught that both of them are, because of God's commandment, to be had in great 
reverence and honour as the highest benefits of God upon earth. And thus our 
learned men think that the power of the keys, or the power of the bishop, is, ac- 
cording to the gospel, a power to preach the gospel, to remit and r^t^in siii^, aild 



540 



to minister the sacrameilts. ^'or with this confimandment Christ sent forth his , 
apostles, saying, * As my Father hath sent me, even so I send you.' VReqeivp^^ 
ye the Holy Ghost ; whose sins ye remits they are remitted unto them, and whosp^^ 
sins ye retain, they are retained.' (John xx.) Also, in the gospel according t^^. 
Mark, he says, * Go, preach the gospel to every creature,' &c. (Mark xvi,j^» 

This power is to be exercised only in teaching or preaching the word, and b;^^ 
administering the sacraments either to many or few, as the case may be ; for her^ 
are granted, not corporal things but eternal things, as eternal righteousness, thj^^. 
Holy Ghost, eternal life. These things cannot come but by the ministration pfj, 
the Word and sacraments. As Paul saith, ' The gospel is the power of God untj9,^ 
salvation^ to every one that helieveth,' (Rom. i.) Therefore, since the power of . 
the church granteth eternal things, and is exercised only by the ministration of 
the word, it does not interfere with civil administration, just as the art of, 
singing hinders not civil or political administration; for political administrationris 
occupied about other things than the gospel. For the magistrate does not defe^p^^ 
minds, but bodies and corporal things, against manifest injuries, and restrains mi^gj 
with the sword and corporal punishment, for the maintenance of justice and peace^^ 
Therefore the power of the church and the civil power should not be mixed 
confounded together: the ecclesiastical has its own commandments to teach tlfiBj 
gospel and to administer the sacraments. Let it not therefore break into another^ 
office — ^let it not transfer the kingdoms of the world — let it not abrogate the la,y^^ 
of princes— let it not take away lawful bhedience — let it not interrupt judgments ii?j 
any civil ordinances or contracts— let it not prescribe laws to governors concemingi 
the form of the commonwealth ; since Christ «aid, 'My kingdom is not of t^?^ 
world,' (John xviii.) Also, in another place, he saith, ' Who made me a judge or.a; 
divider over you?' (Luke xii.) And Paul saith to the Philippia^is, ' Our conversa^ 
tion is in heaven,' (Phil, iii.) And to the Corinthians, ' The weapons of our warj^ 
fare are not carnal, but mighty through God to the pullirig dovpn of thoughts^' fi^gg 
(2 Cor. X.) In like manner, our teachers distinguish the offices of both the^ 
powers, and teach to honour them both, and to acknowledge that each of them is |% 
^ffc and benefit of God.- .0^ 

If bishops have any power of the sword, that power they have not as bishops bjff 
the commandment ^f the gospel, but by the law of man, bestowed upon them bjj 
kings and emperors, for the oivil administration off their own goods. So thattlii?i 
is different from that of the adminiatration of the gospel. Therefore, whensoevei^ 
any question is made of the jurisdiction of bishops, the temporal power ought to tie, 
separated from the ecclesiastical jurisdiction. Undoubtedly, according to thcj. 
gospel, and as they say, jure Jmno, no power belongs to the bishops 
bishopsj that is, to those to whom is committed the ministration of the word an^ 
sacraments, save only this power to remit sins, also to judge of doctrines, and itflt 
reject a doctrine contrary to the gospel^ and to exclude from the conamunion of th^ 
church wicked men whose wickedness is known, and this by the word, withou»| 
the secular arm. In this the churches are bound by the law of God to rend^ 
obedience, according to that^ ' He that heareth you, heareth me,' (Luke x.) 

But when they teach any thing against the gospel, then the churches have a com-f 
raandment of God prohibiting obedience, as this, ' Beware of false prophets ;' 
(Matti vii.) and Paul to the Galatians, * If an angel from heaven preach any other 
gospel, let him be accursed,' (Gal. i.) Also to the Corinthians, 'We can dp 
nothing against the truth, but for the truth,' (2 Cor. xiii. ) Also, in another place 
he saithy * Power is given to us for edification, and not for destruction. - So also 
do the canon laws command, 2 5. 7 cap. Sacerdotes, et cap. oves. An.d St, Austin, 
in reply to the epistle of Petilia, says, ' If catholic, bishops be deceived any where 
by chance, and think any thing against the canonical scriptures of God, W9 
ought not to consent to them.- If bishops have any other power, or jurisdic- 
tion, in determining of certain causes, as of matrimony or of tithes, they have it by 
mau's, law ; .where, when the ordinaries /ail in.the discharge of their duties, b.€!c^y^P 



of peace among them^ princes are botind* : 
w'het'hcf they will or not, to see the law administered. Moreover, it is disputedj^ 
whether bishops or pastors have the right to ordain ceremonies in the chiirches^Y 
and to make laws of meats, of holy days, and degrees of ministers or orders, &c.V; 
Those that suppose that power is vested in bishops, allege this testimony: ' I have/ 
yet many things to say unto you, but ye cannot bear them now, but when the 
Spirit of truth is come, he shall teach you all truth,' (John xvi. ) They allege 
also the example of the apostles, who made a prohibition that the people should 
abstain from blood and things strangled; (Acts xv.) They allege the Sabbath, 
changed into Sunday, the Lord's day, contraiy to the Decalogue, as it appears^^^ 
neither is there any example more boasted of than the changing of the Sabbath^.; 
day. Great, say they, is the power and authority of the church, since it dispensed^ 
with one of the ten commandments. 

But as touching this question our di vines tkus teach, that bishops have no power tO;. 
decree and ordain any thing against the gospeV as is shewed above. The canoa 
laws teach the same thing, (ix. disl.) Moreover, it is contrary to scripture to 
make traditions, or to exact obedience to them, that by tha,t observance we may, 
satisfy for sin, or deserve grace or righteousness. For thus the glory of the merit 
of Christ is injured, when by such observances we go about to deserve justificatioii.^ 
Now it is evident, that because of this persuasion, traditions have grown almost to aii 
infinite number in the church ; and the doctrine of faith, and righteousness of fait^g, 
in the mean while, hath been oppressed. For still more holy days were made, and) 
fasting days commanded ; new ceremonies, and new^honourings of saints, were insti-, 
tuted. For the devisers and actors of such tbingsrfehoughtto get remission of sins 
And justification by these works. ^ So -formerly rpenitential canons increased, oir 
which we still see some remains in these satisfactions. Likewise the authors of 
traditions act contr-ary to the command of God, when they place sin in meats, days,j 
and such like things ; and burden the church with the bondage of the law, as Jf 
there ought to be among Christians, for the cmeriting of righteousness, a worship, 
of €k)d'4ike Unto thart' of ^frhiotoiwe read ittiL^ whereof God 

"iommitted, as they say, to the apostles and bishops. And the pontiflFs appear t;0; 
be deceived by the example of :Mose^'s '^smz hence those buixiens, that certain 
flaeats defile and pollute the conscience, and :that it is deadly sin to omit and leave 
unsaid canonical hours ; that fastings deserve remission pf sins, and that they are' 
riecessary to the righteousness of the New; Testament ; that sin, in a case VG>f 
served, cannot be forgiven without the authority : of the reseryer, where, indeed,:; 
{he canons themselves speak only of ;the reservation ■ of the canonical penalty,, 
aftd not of the reservation of sin. From whence and of vvhoni have the bishops 
ffie power and authority to impose these ti-ad^ona . upon the churchy to wound con-; 
ddenees? For there are clear testimonies'rvdiiGhv.prohibit the making of such 
traditions either to deserve remission^ of siasjoi^asfenecessary to the righteousness o^ 
thfe New Testament, or to salvation^ For Sanlot&ithe Colossians saithi ' Let nos, 
ittan therefore judge you in meat, or in dm&^ 'oiio in -respect of an holy day,' &cg^ 
Also, 'if ye be dead vrith Christ from the rudiments of the world, why, as though, 
liVihg in the world, are ye subject to ordinances, (touch not, taste not, &c.) after 
the commandmenf& and doctrines df men ?' Ako to Titus he openly prohibited, ifeif9« 
ditions, warning, ' that they should not give heed-' to Jewish fables^ and commattd-^ 
ttents of men, that turn fi-om the ti'uth;^ aiid^Ohflsjt, ^peafeingc of them; that enforce 
traditions, says in this wise, ' Let them atenef,:' they m*e Wind, leaders of the blind 
and he reproves such modes of worship, saying, * Every plant which my heavenly 
Father hath not planted, shall be rooted up.' j o j 

'-•■' If bishops have the power of lading churches with infinite traditions, and grieying 
Consciences, why doth scripture so often prohibit the making andfoliowing traditions? 
-^^nd why doth it call them doctrines of devils ?— did the Holy Ghost forerwarh, us 
of these things in vain? Wherefore it must needs follow, that since ordinances, 
instituted as things necessary, or with an opinion to deserve remission of sin,; are 



542 



APPENDIX 



contrary to ttie gospel : that it is not lawful for any bishop to institute 'sucfi! ^^^^ 
it is necessary that the doctrine of Christian liberty be kept still in the churches^,^ 
which is, that the bondage of the law is not necessary to justification, as it is writr 
ten in the Epistle to the Galatians, 'Be not entangled again with the yoke o'f' 
bondage.' The pre-eminence of the gospel must still be retained, which declares,, 
that We obtain remission of sins and justification freely by faith in Christ, and not 
for certain observations or rites devised by men. What shall we think then of th(^^^ 
Lord's day, and the like rites of the temples? To this our learned men respond,' 
that it is lawful for bishops or pastors to make ordinances, that things be done 
orderly in the church ; not that we should purchase by them remission of sins, or 
that we can satisfy for sins, or that consciences are bound to judge them necessary, 
or to think that they sin, who, without offending others, break them. So Paul 
ordains that in the congregation women should cover their heads, and that inter?-^ 
preters and teachers be heard in order in the church. It is convenient that th^^ 
churches should keep such ordinances for the sake of charity and tranquillity, that ' 
so one should not offend another, that all things may be done in the churches 
in order, and without tumult, but yet so that the conscience be not charged, as :to^ 
think that they are necessary to salvation, or to judge that they sin, who, withoutf^ 
hurting others, break them. As that no one should say that a woman sins, who 
goeth abroad bareheaded, offending none. Even such is the observation of the 
Lord's day, of Easter, of Pentecost, and the like holy days and rites. For they 
that judge that by the authority of the church the observing of Sunday, instead of 
the Sabbath-day, was ordaiiied as a thing necessary, do greatly err. The scripture 
permits and grants that the keeping of the Sabbath-day is now free, for it teaches 
that the ceremonies of Moses's law, since the revelation of the gospel, are not 
necessary. And yet because it was needful to ordain a cei'tain day, that the people 
might know when they ought to come together, it appears that the church did 
appoint Sunday, which day, as it appears, pleased them rather than the Sabbath-day, 
even for this cause, that men might have an example of Christian liberty, and might* 
know that the keeping and obsei-vance of either Saturday, or of any other day, 
is not necessary. There are wonderful disputations concerning' the changing of the 
law — ^the ceremonies of the new law— the changing of the Sabbath-day, — which all 
have sprung from a false persuasion and belief of men, who thought that there 
must needs be in the church an honouring of Ood, like the Levitical law, and that 
Christ comittitted to the apostles, and bishops, authority to invent and find 
out ceremonies necessary to salvation. These errors crept into the church when 
the righteousness of faith was not clearly taught. Some dispute that the keeping 
of the Sunday is not fully, but only in a certain manner, the ordinance of God. 
They prescribe of holy days, how far it is lavvful to work. Such manner of dis- 
putations, whatever else they be, are but snares of consciences. For although they 
busy themselves to modify and qualify their traditions, tempering the rigour of 
them with favourable declarations ; yet notwithstanding as long as the opinion 
that they are necessary doth remain (which must needs remain where righteousness 
of faith and Christian liberty are not known), this equity and favour can never be 
perceived nor known. The apostles commanded to abstain from blood ; who doth 
now observe and keep it? And yet they that do not keep it, sin not; for undoubt- 
edly the apostles would not burden the conscience with such bondage, but they 
prohibited it for a time, for avoiding of slander ; for the perpetual will and mind 
of the gospel is to be considered in a decree. Scarcely any canons are diligently 
kept, and many daily go out of use, even with those who defend traditions. 
Neither can consciences be assisted or consulted, unless this equity is ob- 
served, that is, that we know that canons and decrees are to be kept without the 
opinion of necessity, and that consciences are not hurt, though traditions be for- 
gotten and be utterly set aside. Certainly bishops might easily preserve lawful 
obedience, if they would not compel men to keep traditions, which cannot be kept 
with a good conscience. They command priests to live unmarried ; they receive none^ 



APPENDIX. 



543 



unless they swear in effect that they will not teach the pure doctrine of the gospel. 

Our churches do not require that bishops should repair and re-establish concord at 
the expense of their honour (and yet it would become good pastors so to do), but 
they only require that they would release unjust burdens which are novelties, being 
received contrary to the custom of the catholic church. We will not deny, but that 
in the beginning some constitutions were grounded upon reasonable and probablj^^ 
causes, which yet are not now agreeable nor suited to later times. It appears,) 
also, that some were wrongfully received ; wherefore it might please the gentleness^ 
of the pontificate now to mitigate and release them, since such change would npt. 
break the unity of the church. For many traditions have, in process of time, 
been changed, as the canons themselves testify. But if it cannot be obtained tha,t 
those observations should be released which cannot, without sin, be complied with 
we must needs follow the rule of the apostles, which commands rather to obey ^ 
God than men. Peter forbids bishops to be lords and emperors over the church. 
Now, it is not intended by us to take away jui'isdiction from the bishops, but this 
one thing we require of them, that they would suffer the gospel to be purely taugh^g 
and that they would release a few certain ordinances, which cannot be observedji 
without sin. But if they will not remit or release any thing, let them look t<^^ 
their charge how they shall i-ender their accounts to God, in ||iat they, bjf reason c^^l 
their obstinacy, are the cause of this schism. :^-mo ^bsbBedmsd hsoida dioo^ 

,j . -. ^ "^'^ , -sJaBa 5^£b a'bioJ 

■^o 'hR01^m ,Y£biiiiB Ir, _ Conclusion. ^^^^ ^^j,^^- ^^^^ 

The foregoing are the principal subjects of dispute between us, ^ it %efee iii^ed;* ' 
easy to enumerate many other abuses and errors, but for the sake of brevity we 
have omitted them. Much complaint, for example, has existed concerning indul- 
gences, pilgrimages, and the abuse of excommunication.. The clergy have £^lso had 
*^T\dless disputes with the monks about confession and numberless other subjects^- 
These things we have omitted, in order that those of greater importance may bj^^ 
the;aier0iqarefully weighed. : ; sin: iiavo 

erfj^o ^mw i J Signed}. . JOHN, the Elector of Saxony. - ^isaasosn jon^i 
nBdoiriwA^sb-riifiddfig sd GEORGE, Eai-l of Brandenburg, qHi^wbI 
oisdiWi U-^uodi oriw.r. ERNEST, Duke of Luneberg. ? . ,,,^3 Q^Bd 
nAi ha& ,wbI iBoUmJ odi PHILIP, Landgrave of Hesse. .ggfi jgyni 

bna fefiB iamai ^^^hod JOHN FREDERICK, Duke of Sa^ony^ja ^ghdO 
fl9dw dotudD 9rfl oiffi iqs-o FRANCIS, Duke of Luneberg. galnomsTOD too 
Smq99jJ JBriJ 9Jiia. ^ WOLFGANG, Prince of Anhalt. si : : odJ 
boO souBnibio - '^"^ Senate and Magistracy of Nurembekg. ; '^o 

Igib TOffxiBm dox^a ,.r;o7;TH*t;§i;^if IF 9^ ^^eutlingen. '.^^ s^n^^a^x^ ^sdT 
ri^ucdilB 10% ,.890ftoio?rioo \o as'ifina 3xjd sxr _ "3 'i9V9i£dw .^noilBtoq 

iuo'§h srfs ^nhaqjirai .anoiJibB-rJ imAt ^lilfiup l.iii raj..^.m oi agvfeamgdi ^sud 
nolniqo adJ as •gaol 8b -^tuhmizAivnioa iQ\ lanoitoBlosb 9ld£'mov£^ Aim msAi 
gaenawosidgii sigdwiikmgi abasn izuat riacdw) nxBiirgi ddob ^iBaaaosii qib \QAi i&Ai 
ed lova/i fiBO raovsl fcfiB ^^i-^ps ^^Ai ^{niwiiA ioa. 91b \fi^di[ nBi^ahdO bns dJisl lo 
rfjob odw i hooid tao"h aisiadB ot bghnsmraoo asIJaoqB 9dT .nwoni lors bovigoigq 
-iduohm loi ;Jon nxg ,jl q99i Jon ob i&Ai \QAi is'i hak ^ ii q99i bna gvigado wow 
\QAi tod ,9^bnod doifa riJiw sorrgioanoo sdi a&hiisd Ion blwow asIiaoqB gdJ ^If)9 
bnifli bii& Uiw Ibzj Jgq-rsq sAi i6i \ "igbflsla ^nibiovB 'tdi ^graii b lol ii bsiidirfoiq 
Xlinegilib 9%s axioiiso \nG ^Igo-xBoS .99i09fa b nx baieblanoo 9d oj ai Igqao^ sAi 'io 
.f.aijinh&'ii bti'Mh odw saodJ ddiw n9V9 ,98" too o§ ^liab ^riBm ba& ,Jq9jl 
do €i ziAi gaglxijj ^bsjlx/anoD 10 bglataas gd agaugxoaxioo hbd igdiiaH 

Qrfj K- jdicw iqsjl od stB z^monb bns anoxxBo i&Ai yionA 9W i&Ai ,d Udi ,b9vi98 
. j- r- riainafroo JBri) bnB noinxqo 

|nv ijD ,9bx8B iBB ;xi ngjJog 

n fgqrao^ ion M; : ' ^do 

ABmmoo x;9fIT tiy/ 



-nfiJsdoanf ; i -tudo oiloiliGo otli 

Bins Qdi hm ,i&hdO olorfw bn& Us ,\lno 

js a? 9f9rfS isdi Mod YlinjBlanoo ob I 

^ ' ButLA" Pif ' (it^^RTf "'"""^ 

Super formd J^iramenti profesaioni^/^i^i^ 
[, Anno ,1564..: o' 



i] ApostoUcas et .eGclesiastkas trajdi- 
tiones, reliquasq, ejusdem Ecdesi^e 
pjt^eryaiiones- - constitutiones firmis- 
sime admkto, et amplector. Item sa- 
qram scripturam juxta eum sensum, quern 
tenuit et tenet sancta mater. Ecclesia, 
cujus est judicare de vero sensu, et in- 
terpretatiane sacrarum scripturaruiii) ad- 

unanimem consensum Patrj^f^cgjpt^n^^ 
et Hiterpretab0i% Profitesor c[uoque,(^pp- 
tem esse vere et proprie sacraoi^^ 
ii<XY^^Q|egis a Jesu ChnstOj, ;I)cma^ 
nostro, instituta, atq^ue ad , salu^^eaa l^ji-- 
rnani generis, licet non omnia singulis 
necessaria, scilicet Baptismum, Confip,-* 
mationera, Eucharistiam^ PeeniteBtiam, 
Extremam Unctionerat Qrdinem et 
Matrimonium : Illaque gratiam con- 
ferf <p : et ex his baptismum, confirms- 
tionera, et Qrdinem, sine sacrilegip rei-, 
l^a^ajja^f posse. Receptos quoquej et 
^probatos Ecclesise Catholieg^djifeifeii/in 
supi^dictorum omnium sacradgaefi^br^ai 
sojjepmi administratione reei^s^ofefe ^jfe 
Hilitto,. Omnia et singula, (pap l^^g^ 
cato originali, et de justi|ift%ti9g;g9-jp 
sapps^ncta Tri4entina SyntyiQui^Iitiisl 

<fipi%o.,Pr(^gor ^ij;<^in xigiiftrflieisi 
PeO;Tferujn, ;p?oprium et propfeafejlsu^ 
Sacriijiciumi pyo mk. ^tjiefm^t^itifitsf^ 
in sanctissimo ;JE$\$l%is^tigirifa(gjpiri^ft|» 
esse vere, ; a'eali^i>^f^n^bIt^felE6^ 
cwpus et sangiiii^e^i^ftosuetf aijiitoal 
et divinitate Dom|^^i|ij8§&ribJe§u|Ghtk^l 
fierique conversionem ifiAijii^j s«J)#9U8iB» 
yarns, in corpus, et totit^ a^bstaa^ mdt 
in «ang:uinem : : quam conver&bBemoGafl 
tholica Ecclesia tsaftsidasfaartiajidlgejrt 
appellati Fateoif' ejbiaaasfl&blalteTOJtaiiti^ 
specie^ .tobiam 5rtq<jfoihte^roa .(tite^ibii^ 
verumque sacramentum sumi. el^^n^ 



aii^B-jftug moilobft ss^as^ob Idi »upg£m 
mu3 kttu 8OJ01I68 is laiiUmlB M-usYwj, 
=fil QupiG ,8obnBi9n9v e89}rfi}n^97 oJzhriO 

iij OgQ 89001*510 91ip809 ,0880 aobflSDOV 
9389 8£i0pil9T mjJ109 9«ptB j9n9*fio 8fdoil 

-smx 501988B 9mi88ifmi^ .8x;bneiofi97 

819 ,pJjl --SP-r.'- v; ■ .uod 

^ .^1^. , Xhs; apostolic and ecclesij^sti^ 
traditions, and otker observajices and 
constitutions of the churchy do^^j^fig],y 
admit and embracCc ozthfi 

2, Also the sacred scripture,- a<jG,Q;j:df 
ing'to that sense which our holy naoj^fe^ 
the church hath holden and dojjb^^jaj^ 
(whose office it , is to judge of t|}§if5M 
^nsc and interpretation of holj^ sc^ipf 
jtjjyes) do r admit, neither will, I ^y^^ 
jgceive and expound it but according 

the uniform consent of the father^j;^ 

3. I do also profess tha^t there^areiljrj^ 
aiid properly seven; sa<^rameIlrfSj^ oii!^§ 
new law, instituted by pur Lerdi,jJ§gH# 
Christ and necessary to the salyationjljf 
mankind, though all be not neee^yy 
for every man : that is t<) say, baptisBb 
confirmation, the eucbarist, peaagicj^ 
extreme unction^ orders, and marria^i 
and that they confer, grace, .aj^d thai 
ana ong th es e , bapti s m,,: c onfirmati on, aisd 
^rders, eayii^ot be reiterated without 
§yilege. Also the received and jap© 
p|-;9ved rites_ of the Cathf^Jj© ■ tkoirtia 

in the i^olemn .suimiipfcra,tjs^ of mli 
afofes^^i^bSftfa-aniiBts^I impxe 

^^ernfflgi^p^ina^:^^ agi^ imt]&mtim^ 
vrm^ ^^ined ; and, ,de9to^4» tfe iu^ 

5. Also I confess that in tb^ilBi^svS 

#g^moA.9id tJSt int^Jbe£^st,i«% evkh 
efe^6fetli^ru|jr(^e3Jly, ,4nd98H^staM0tfell^ 
tfefttfej^'i^atl blfiiwljewitfe th0}j8Dttl('-a»4 
^tMrfilypiif mmhfffA dfesi»i£!bigsl>ularid 
tkilritliergs isi jnadelavcomdaaioarre^f^q 
whsdeisnbsteiase aa&lhb te8ea<j9i«|oi-fiiB 
bo%j93JHi o6fthe.^de sotetaace (rfitbe 
vaiaeodiiiatofjdiis' bloody vphichicom^eiP^JBi 



* As thi 
the oi iginal, 
given. 



3 new creed is of great importance in our controversy with the papal churcl^ 
il, copied verbatim et Ute^-atim from the authorized docunaent, is likewi^" 



545 



stanter teneo purgatorium esse, ani- 
masque ibi detentas fidelium sutFragiis 
juvari: Similiter et sanctos una cum 
Christo regnantes, venerandos, atque in- 
vocandos esse, eosque orationes Deo pro 
nobis offerre, atque eorum reliquias esse 
venerandas. Firmissime assero, ima- 
gines Christi ac Deiparae semper Vir- 
ginis, necnon aliorum sanctorum, ha- 
bendas et retinendas esse: atq. eis 
debitum honorem, ac venerationera im- 
pertiendam. Indulgentiarum etiam po- 
testatem a Christo in Ecclesia relietam 
fuisse, illarumque usum Christian© 
populo maxime salutarem esse affirmo. 
SanctamCatholicam, et Apostolicam Ro- 
manam Ecclesiam, omnium Ecclesiarum 
matrem et magistram agnosco : Homa- 
noq. Pontifici, B. Petri, Apostolorum 
principis, successori, ac Jesu Christi 
Vicario veram obedientiara spondeo ac 
juro: caetera item omnia a sacris <;ano- 
nibus, «t oecumenicis conciliis, ac prae- 
cipue a sacrosancta Tridentina Synodo 
tradita, definita, et declarata, indubitan^ 
ter recipio, atque profiteor, simulque 
contraria omnia, atque hsereses quas* 
cunque ab Ecclesia damnatas, rejectas> 
et anathematizatas, ego^ pariter damno, 
rejieio et anathematizo. Hanc veram 
Catholicam fidem, (extras quam nemo 
Salvus e^e potest) quam in praesenti 
sponte profiteor, et veraciter teheo^ 
eandem integcam et inviolatam, t^ue 
arf extremum vitse spiritum, constantis- 
sime (Deo adjuvante) retiriere et confi- 
teri, atque a meis subditis, vel illis 
quorum cura ad me in munere itieo 
spectabit, teneri, doGerij et prsedicari, 
^antum in me erit, curaturum. Ego 
idem N. spondeo, voveo, ac juro. Sic 
me Deus adjuvet, et haec saneta Dei 
Evangelia. 

: Volumus autem, quod praesentes li- 
terse, in cancelleria nostra Apostolica, 
de more, legantur» Et ut omnibus 
facilius pateant, in ejus Quinterno 
describantur ac etiam imprimantur. 
Nulli ergo omnino hominum liceat hanc 
paginam nostrae voluntatis et mandati 
infringere, vel ei ausu temerario con- 
traire. Si quis autem hoc attentare 
praesumserit, indignationem omnipoten- 
tis Dei, ac beatorum Petri et Pauli, 
Apo;stolorum ejus, Se noverit incursuturo . 



the catholic church calls transubstan- 
tiation. 

6. I confess also, that under one kind 
only, all and whole Christ, and the true 
sacrament, is received. 

7. I do constantly hold that there is a 
purgatory, and that the souls detained 
there are holpen by the suffrages of the 
faithful. " 

8. And likewise that the saints reign- 
ing with Christ, are to be worshipped 
and prayed unto. And that they offe¥ 
their prayers unto God for us : and that 
their relics are to be worshipped. ' 

9. And most firmly I avouch, tTiaS 
the images of Christ, and of the mother 
of God, always a virgin, and of other 
saints, are to be had and retained, aiid 
that to them due honour and veneratidff 
iato be given. '-^ 

10. Also, that the power of indul2 
geiacies was left by Christ in the churdlf^ 
and I affirm the use thereof to be m(M 
wholesome to Christ's people. 

11. That the holy, catholic and apo^i 
tolic Roman church is the mother aM 
mistress of all churches, I acknowledge : 
and I vow and swear true obedience to 
the bishop of Rome, the successor of 
St. Peter, the prince of tfe apostles, 
and the vicar of Jesus Christ. ' 

12. And all other things likewise eK? 
I undoubtedly receive and confess, whi^ 
are delivered, defined, and declared 
the sacred canons, and general edtaiiis^ 
eils^ and especially the^ holy council^ 
Trent : and withal, I condemn, rejeci^ 
and a,ccurse, all things that are <;ontr£a^ 
hereunto, and all heresies whatsoever^- 
condemned, rejected, and aceurseft' 
by the church : and I will be carefai 
that this true Catholic faith (out of 
which no man can be saved, which at 
this time I Willingly profess and trul^ 
hold) be constantly {with God's help*)* 
retained and confessed, whole and ids 
violate, to the last gasp ; and by thos^ 
that are under me, or such as I shaJt 
have charge over in my calling, holdefl,^ 
taught, and preached to the uttermost 
my power : I the said N. promise, voftfj 
and swear, so God help me, and his holj^ 
gospels. ' 

Our pleasure is, that these present 
lette^aqqoi:"^ ci^st^p^, .]|ejC^^ ^ 



546 



APPENDIX. 



Datura Romae, apud sanctum Petrum, our Apostolic chancery: and that they 
anno Incarnationis Dominicae Millicemo may be the more easily known unto all 
Quingantesimo sexagesimo quarto Idi- men, that they be there copied and 
bus Novem. Pontificatus nostri anno imprinted. 

quinto. It shall not be lawful, therefore, for 

r - v , any man to infringe this our will and 

FED. CARDINALIS C :^^Si X5 S ' commandment, or by audacious boldness 
CiE. GLORIERIUS* to contradict the same. 

-Bii mjjio/oJgoqv', oil^-^mvfo ojons8oio.Ga Which if any man shall presume to 
'gib oJknr QTOcjmoi oorf .mshh- mBifibnjj'i ^..ftttempt : Jet him know that he shall 
fl^onsaoioija ^ luiasijuq-aib io isjiaooob gijijincur the indignation of Almighty God, 
^miri&au ^suisitymi &oiidsd 9iu)£m ai/dsi sand of Saint Peter and Saint Paul, his 
iXyJiiB8i9vbiJ asfllxtdob sjjpssioBB iebh aeniiaBl Wessed apostles. Dated at Rome in 
oJluJijairoo. s&nomo sod aoios^cfx/a taq the year of the incarnation of our Lord 

1564. Id. November; the 5th yeai- of 
.3i88iM oiOT-^r papacy. 

.1 V.QV.AO 

-im imuMhono /iL^rqciq 3o muiev osQ mslo noa smm ni jhsxib gkn iQ 
^sna ii-iBb msshmDSjbtis^m bs nwiandD aldon mmp Jxs flon irislo Bojip 

.II KOKJ^O 

muiahdO 'imsmbs'tomsmmoo mnem ni oJhBi ooH ' Jdie^ ^.u :x. ^hj. .S 
BBiobieosa eupiilB jaqi to ^sassaibio non ius ? asJof)i9:>£8 aoIojaoqA saaiiiiiianl non 

oIII TfOPf A3 

hyrimm-toimiiqoiq matrr. n^.r, Do^^gq ^^^^^ „| ^^^g^.^^^ rrrsfiob^iomommoD msbun 
^ozkiiBB 8ma>q ,8l^Bo .Ti;%b 3e aiviv oiq snpsn -itoomwa saaofeoiq iloa 

iiiTS ; 9i9d9b mdSo audrtB^iaaaosxi .arik *9 audinolt 

.VI KO^AO 

0007.0 nf ,ofoafioBa hahdO omrasBonBs mso-iti mfiimsrfqaBfd .Jhsxib arnp IB 

Jra £ni9rii£iiB • hi3§oiob oori -isq Hli ; mi/iofihosa ^sgaim tsq .oiORi^q 

0-,-q 19 mI/-fo^^^Ba msf onoxf ni sfBidsfso asaalnt .saag mawjacqmi ,Jit9xib akp ig 
4:a BmadmciB ; JibngJnl BiasfoDg Jxioia .sbaoahdommQ buq& ,9fioia83statel Miiiom 

elV KOXAO 

:9889 mxibnB-o-fcffi ojjposb; ,9f9nilnoD 89ion9 mBBim mononBc^ ^hexib aiop 18 

-=9f90 m^-t^aarm m aiidiup ^a^ra ,91=9^ .efimomoisoo .ihsxlb amp m 

BiDffio m^up a,3B/n ,9889 8itel9iq..u ... ...nl .inJi^ ^orfote uiaslooo snoiteid 

.Jia J5jtK9n'jjsflfi ; zhsialq 

.IIIV KOTiAO 

-Ji8 BsaadisoB ^ ssbas^goidM si/poabi sags BSiioM 

oil K0T5A0 

op ,ffi«jn snBmoH srsofooo ,jh9Xib aiup 

httsnmsb ,->' -/rroitooaenoo jsdisv 

^ifffl flOff Ocf'db m'fdsfso fllfi? 

. BOB im9muijmcui i}?.ndO vtiaKt^'ih bom 



m btts MpDoiiBrfo oi/olaoqA wo ,mmm muion^B bwqc .a^moSl msu.G 
ibflfi bBiqoo etsds od lodi iBdi ,nom oitsup omiao^zoB omBBSns^umg 

;6l ,oidi3i9iit od ion !f.R^ ^ * . ^^^^ " 

feofi lllw Tuo sisj^ s^nn^nf - » Hip 

a89obiod£uolai;f>i;Bvd^o J..SESSIO 22. CAPIJ^ , ^ 

-OOTiPROLEGOMENON CaNONUM SeQUENTIUM. 

Qma veto' a^verstis veterem banc, in sacrosancto evangelic Apostolorum tra- 
ditionibus, sanctorumque patrum doctrina fundatam fidem, boc tempore multo dis- 
seminati sunt errores, multaque a multis docentur et disputantur ; sacrosancta 
sjTiodus post multos, gravesque his de rebus mature babitos tractatus, unanimi 
patrum omnium consensu, quae huie purissimae fidei sacraeque doctrinae adversantur, 
damnare, et a sancta ecclesia eliminare, per subjectos bos canones constituit. 

Pe SaCRIFICIO MlSSiE. 
CANON I. 

Si quis dixerit in missa non ofFerri Deo verum et propriura sacrificium; aut 
quod offerri non sit aliud, quam nobis Christum ad manducandum dari; ana- 
thema sit. 

CANON II. 

Si quis dixerit, illis verbis, * Hoc facite in meam commemorationem ;' Christum 
non instituisse Apostolos sacerdotes ; aut non ordinasse, ut ipsi, aliique sacerdotes 
offerrent corpus, et sanguinem suura ; anathema sit. 

CANON III. 

Si quis dixerit, missae sacrificium tantum esse laudis, et gratiarum actionis, aut 
nudam commemorationem sacrificii in cruce peracti, non autem propitiatorium ; vel 
soli prodesse sumenti ; neque pro vivis et defunctis pro peccatis, poenis satisfac- 
tionibus et aliis, necessitatibus ofFerri debere ; anathema sit. 

CANON IV. 

Si quis dixerit, blasphemiam irrogari sanctissimo Christi sacrificio, in cruce 
peracto, per missae sacrificium ; aut illi per hoc derogari ; anathema sit. 

CANON v. 

Si quis dixerit, imposturam esse, missas celebrare in honorem sanctorum et pro 
illorum intercessione, apud Deum obtinenda, sicut ecclesia intendit ; anathema sit. 

CANON VI. 

Si quis dixerit, canonem missae errores continere, ideoque abrogandum esse; 
anathema sit. 

CANON VII. 

Si quis dixerit, coeremonias, vestes, et externa signa, quibus in missaram cele- 
bratione ecclesia catholica utitur, irritabula impietatis esse, magis quam officia 
pietatis ; anathema sit. 

CANON VIII. 

Si quis dixerit, missas, in quibus solus sacerdos sacramentaliter communicat, 
illicitas esse ideoque abrogandas ; anathema sit. 

CANON IX. 

Si quis dixerit, ecclesiae Romanae ritum, quo summissa voce pars canonis et 
verba consecrationis proferuntur, damnandum esse ; aut lingua tantum vulgari mis- 
sam celebrari debere ; aut aquam non miscendam esse vino in calice olFerendo, eo 
quod sit contra Christi institutionem ; anathema sit. 

Cojic. Trident. Sessio xxii. cap. ix. de Sacrificio Missae. 
2 N 2 



548 



;«d?.oH 

MISSALE ROMANUM, EX DECRETO SACROSANCTI CO^iSQlhll 
'*'*^TRrDEWtNl RESTITUTUM. S, PIT V. JUSSU EDITUlll/«€^Bii 
MENTIS VIII., ET URBANI PAP^ C)€1*V^I AUCTaRl^fet*^ 

RECOGNITUMviHoraoD emoixiaoiem 6tjaiTDa'?aa ad , 



De DEFECTiBtJs in Celebratione Missarum occurrentibus. 
Sa!.cerdos celebraturus, omnem adhibekt diHg^^tttiatn, ne desit aliquid ex reqtiisitis 
a4 Sacramentum Eucllaristiae conficiendum. Potest atitem defectus contingere ex 
parte materise consecrandae, et ex parte fbrmae adhibend8e, et ex parte mittistipi 
cpnficientis. Quidquid enim horum deficit, scilicet rtiateria debita, fdwna COia 
intentione, et Ordo Saeerdotalis in conficiente, non conficitur Sacramentum. 
Et his existentibus, quibuseumque aliis deficientibus, Veritas adest Sacramentii 
^lii vero sunt defectiiSj qui in Missse celebratione Gccurrentes, et si ventatem^ici*ifi- 
^ine^r|t6n^i^|>edia^^^^ tamen aut cUm peCcatO, aut cum scandalo contingere. 

,;r, IL De DEJFECTIBUS JIATERI^i, 

Defectus ex parte materiae possunt contingere, si aliquid desit ex iis, quae ad 
ipsam requiruntU^J ^l^uirktir f^^^ vite; et ut 

' hujusmodi tmteri*|ertBS^rae4^^R^|»^OTpg^i^^^^^^ 

Si ponis non siWiHcefilj^<^ fi^flcgWI^niS^ li»?geEtafe9ateOTin9fg3aBl4*S Jh 



tanta quantitate, ut ii8n''AaKg'atf>p«ftsiMfieefct§»,3vW^ iso^jrawfi. 

citur Sacramentum. ^^"^ munhuisM meilsa isaeideho ia noiinummoo msib 
2. Si sit c6nf^cti£^'^t^^<|alf%s«fc^aP,i¥yifi«fe^ disfilkeroHffi,b&^iin»£ejfai»n 

conficiatur: ° ^^'^^^^"^^ meiBiaeioq oinedM onjsd oik ik Im .oqoaaiqa du Ms 

7, Si Hoslfa co]fkclktadisp'afea<; Vfel cclSuPMi^e^-utxwntepkutfiMrfasiuleifaj^ 
aliquo animali accepta, ct ncqucat reperiri ; t«ifiPal€lt!aJ-(t^ins8iar^^ iidbn non m 

-i jiiii ijofi ».j.j,K. , ;i,,,iv J ,;v ssias non j£9jnnjBj8 la? ,B9l 

t Si vinum sit iaflf9»i9^p!i?nitj^a^^|^m, vel penitus putndum, vpltte'uvis JfcgfbfS, 
- sennoB nmtsuKis ^pfr^sjij}j,j^^gi ^^ixtum tantum aquae, ct vlnum sit corruptum; 
non conficitur Sacramentum. 

« jiT>!fe.tf(Si q?tt§e p*5J?pjlij^ a^te consecrationcm, vel post consecrationem, totum vinum 
esse acetum* vel alifts. corruptum, idem servetur quod supra, ac si deprehenderet 
.5 non esse positum vinum, vel solam aquam fuisse appositam in Calice. ^' 

8. Si materia qjiy^3e;.§§s^t apponenda, ratione defectus vel panis, vel vini, ri6n 
posset ullo mod0«^£(ib[efi,),si id sit ante consecrationem Corporis, ultcrius procedi 
non debet • si post consecrationem Corporis, aut ctiam vini, deprehenditur defecfus 
alterius speeiei, altera jam consecrata : tunc si nullo modo habcri possit, protie- 
dendum orifej^vet Mi^^a^sibsolvenda, ita tamen ut pr«;termittantur verba, ct signa, 

I quae pertin^ s?|i a^l^^j^Jft deficientem. Quod si expectando aliquamdiu habferi 

.possit, P^mmdm^mi^^jmm^^ ""^"^^"^^^ ^"iF^l^^S^As. 6ikn.| .qqm"i 
V. De DErECTlBUs vo^]^^;~>£8 oHgudmoo 1'j f rrtB-f;rd 
Defectus ex parte forma^ possunt contingere, si aliquid desit ex iis qua? ad inte- 
gritatem verbouim in ipsa cousecrationc requiruntur. 

VI. Dk dki-fctibus AiixisrRi. iwJnBqmm-Jo . «>ia->q^: 
Defectus ex parte Ministri possunt contingere quoad 'ec'i,'quial^%'?psoreq^run- 
tur. Hec autem sunt : In primis intentio, deinde dispositio animae, dispositio 
corporis, dispositio vestimentorum, dispositio in ministerio ipso, quoad ea, quae in 
ipso possunt ocGurrerc. 



549 



VII. De defectu intentionis. 

Si quis non intendit conficere, se^ delu^ie aliquid agere. Item si aliquse 
Hostice ex oblivione remaneant in Altari, vel aliqua pars vini, vel aliqua. Hostia 
lat^at,' d^ia nqn iatendat oonseorana ^isi qua^ ;V?dQt. v Iten^ fi Ji^ibeat coram 
undpcim (lostias, et intendat consecrare solum decern, non ^eterminjyjs. q^uas decern 
i^itfind^t^ ifl, b^s casibus non consecrat, quia requiri^ur intentio. 

IX. De defectibus dispositionis coRPORiiS;/{UTIH0033H 
Si quis non est jejunus post mediam noctem etiam post sumptionem solius aquae, 
vel alterius potas, aut eibi, per modum etianv raedicinae, et in quaij^umcumque 
parva quantitate, non potest communicare, nee celebrare. 

2. Si autem ante mediam noctem cibum, aut potum sumpserit, etiam si postmbl- 
dum non dormierit, nec sit digestus, non peccat : sed ob perturbationem mentis, ex 
^ua devotio tollitur, consulitur aliquando abstinendum. ^ 

3. Si reliquiae cibi remanentes in ore transglutiantur, non impediunt Commu- 
nionera, cum non transglutiantur per modum cibi, sed per modum salivse. Idein 
dicendum si lavando os deglutiatur stilla aquae pxaater intentionem. ^ 

5. Si praecesserit pollutio nocturna, quse causata fuerit ex prBecedenti cogitatione, 
quae sit peccatum mortale, vel evenerit propter nimiam crapulam, abstirieMultt ^^st 
,a communione, et celebratiorie, nisi aliud Confessario videatur. 

3XJ i9 \ 9jiv sKjnDttvnisffECTiBus in ministerio ipso Occurrentibus. 

Possunt^efmm"'de%ctas occurrere in miriisterio ipso, si aliqi^^.reqtashis ^ 
illud desit : ut si celebretur in loco non saer^, vel fiion deputato ab Episcopo, vel 
fin rAi't«r^qnjf)5)risecrato^ vel tribus raappis non cooperto ; si non adsint luminaria 
^meak^^m. lawk^t itempus debitum celebrandi, , quod est ai) aurora usque ad meri- 
diem communiter : si celebrans ; saltem Matutinum cum Laudibus non dixerit ; si 
fsomittat: aKqind «x„veitifeus ^rt&erdQtolilm^^t .^ig^^rje^ts^ -sacerdotales, et mappae non 
sint ab Episcopo, vel ab alio banc habente potestatem benedictae : si non adsit 
tifjUificu3,.-vd alius deseryiensj in, adsitj;qui. deservire non debetj ut mulier : 
si non adsit CalixioraiiPatmaiSoni^nieng, cujus cuppa debet esse aurea,vel argen- 
tea, vel stannea ; non aerea, vel vitrea : si Corporalia non sint munda, quae debent 
-^esse ex lino, nec serico in medio ornata, et ab Episcopo vel ab alio banc habente 
jpotestatem benedicta, ut etiam superius dictnin e^V"^^'^ cM^bi^ 'Capiteiwi^ 
sine dispensatiorie ; si non ad^tt'Ms^^te^liefe ifleixiDriter sciret Missam, quam^ino 
^lendit dicere. : jion 

, f>. Si musca, vel aranea, vel aliquid aliud ceciderit in Calicem ante consecra- 
tionem, projiciat vinum in locum decentem et aliud ponat in Galice, misces^ parmn 
.^aquae, offerat, ut supra^ et prosequatur Missam-. si post censecrationem eecid«rit 
i^piusca, aut aliquid ejusmodi, et fiat nausea sacerdoti, extrabat earn, lavet cum 
. yinp, finita Missa comburat, et combustio ac iotio hujusmodi in sacrarium projieiatur. 
^,Si autem non fuerit ei nausea, nec ullum periculum timeat, sumat cum satigaine:.. 

6. Si aliquid venenosum ceciderit in Calicem, vel quo provocairet vomitwn, 
j. ,y^um consecrat um reponendum est in alio Calrce, et aliud vinum cum^aq^a a^o- 

nendum denuo consecrandum, et finita Missa sanguis repositus in patmo lineo^ivel 
stuppa tamdiu servatur, donee species vini fueriht deskcatae,-«t' tUne'J|tsq)pap«)pi- 
buratur, et combustio sacrarfilm^rojiGiatnriia afi // 

^^^^T^ '^Sf aliqubd ^vefteiktum: contigeri^Hoati tupc aUeram co^secret, 

et sumat modo quo dictum esi t .!et a|larseE^t!P' in tab^rnaculo loco separate donee 
species corrumpantur et Qorruptae deinde mittantur in sacrariura. 

8. Si sumendo sanguinem particula remanserit in Calice, digito ad labium Ca- 
, licis earn adducat, et sumat ante purificationem, vel infundaf 'Viriuni, ef gwiftaiti 

,ji Si Hostia ante consecrationem inveniatur fracta, nisi populo evidehter appa- 
reat, talis Hostia consecretur; si autem scandaluni populo esse possit, alia accipiatur, 
et offerratur : quod si illius Hostiae jam erat facta oblati6j ' earn post- abiutionem 



550 



APPENDIX. 



sumat. Quod si ante oblationem Hostia appareat confracta, accipiatur altera 
integra, si citra scandalum, aut longam moram fieri poterit. 

10. Si propter frigus, vel negligentiam, Hostia consecrata dilabatur in Calicem 
propterea nihil est reiterandum, sed Sacerdos Missam prosequatur, faciendo caere- 
monias, et signa consueta cum r^sidu^ parte Hosti?e, quae non est madefacta san- 
guine, si commode potest. Si verd tota fuerit madefacta, non extrahat earn, sed 
omnia dicat omittendo signa, et sumat pariter Corpus, et sanguinem, signans se 
cum Calice, dicens : Corpus et Sanguis Domini nostri, &c. 

11. Si in hieme sanguis conglefuriri Calice, involvatur Calix pannis calefac- 
tis : si id non proficeret, ponatur in ferventi aqua prope Altare, dummodo in Cali- 
cem non intret, donee liquefiat. 

12. Si Jser negligentiam aliquid de Sanguine Christi reciderit, si quidem supe^ 
teiTam, seu super tabulam, lingua krabatur, et locus ipse radatur quantum satis est, 
et abraSio comburatur ; cinis'verd in sa:crarium:recondatur. Si verp super lapidem 
altaris ceciderit, sorbeat saceirdos stillam, et locus bene abluatur, et ablutio in sa- 
t^rarium projiciatur. Si super linteum Altaris, et asLaliud linteum stilla pervenerit^ 
si usque^M' tehium^ liiiteaniini tcir abMantur dbi Btilla ceeiderit, Calice suppositOj, ^ 
aqua ablutionis in sacrarium projieiatur. i 

13. At si eontirigat totuni Sangttiiiem post consecrationem effundi, si quidpm 
aliquid yel parum remansit, illud sumatur, et de efFuso reliquo sanguine fiat ut dic- 
tum est. ^i Ver6 mhil omninb remah^^ ponat iteriim vinum, et quam, et conseret 
ub eo loco. Simili wodo pioisi^uom canaiwrn eist, facta pri^ tamen Calicis oblatione, 
nisiqjra;'-' 

14. Si Sacerdos evomat Eueharistiam, si Species integrae appareant, reverenter 
sumantur, nisi nausea, fiat,; tunc enii^h specie? colisecrataB, caute separentur, et in 
aliqiio loco sacro reponantur, donee , corrumpantur, et ppstea in sacrarium projici- 
aiitur.^ Qaod si species non appai*eant, comburatur vpmitus, et cineres in sacra- 
rium mittanttir. ; L . r A 

15. Si Hostia consecrata, vel aliqua ejus particula dilabatur in terram, reveren- 
ter accipiatur, et locus, ubi cecidit mttndetur, et aliquantulum abradatur, et pulvis, 
seu abrksio hujiismodi in sacrarium immittatur. Si ceeiderit extra Corporale in 
mappani, s6'u alio quovis modo> in aliquod linteum, mappa vel linteum, hujusmodi 
diligenter lavetur, et lotio ipsa in sacrarium effundatur. 

16. Pds^unt etiam defecttls in ministerio ipso occurrere, si Sacerdos ignorot ritus, 
et caeremonias ipsas in eo servandas; de quibus orr.cibus in superioribiis Rubricis 
eopiose dictum est. 



Ml 



AiajfB wiBiqtooB .^iosy&aoo isotsqqn ubaoH moaoiiBldo oittB h houQ 

bsa .nTr.e lBdB.txs non .BloBiefinAleMlM'ia .lasioq 6bommoo ia ,snm^ 
oa mBn^ia ,ai9mx,BnB8 ,8i/qTO0 leih^q tBmu^ is ,Bn-gh obneiiimo iaoib Birtmo 
. ^ mu^ og «.r«iTD?. t3 '.wq^oO jgnsoib .soUbO muo 

^o&iolBo arrrnBq kiIbO -rniBvloyni .ooitsO m tuiol^mo e'la^ass emoid ai i8 if 
fli obomtxwh ,9TsM sqoiq BxipB iJnsnal m -ujisnoa 49790 f^ovq noa ^? ro . ,it 

ABRAHAM, tbe possibility ttf^^Ptiadit^n/sS aMtive church, ib. the contrary doc- 



tion from Adam to him, 93. the^^ oc- 
casion and design of a revelation to 
him, ib. - 

Absolute decre^i.flsi®^ Decrees. 

Absolution, in what sense it ought to be 
pronounced, 356. the bad effects of 

' the hasty absolutions of the (^urch of 

""' Rome; 369. as used in the church of 

"^"England, is only declaratory, 370. 

''''this agreeable to the practice ^ the 
primitive church, 371. a prayer used 

^ 'in the chuK^h ^^ R&tfle after al^ 

"*tion, ib. this does not mend it; ib; 

'^"When this practice was introduced, ib. ^ 

"Aty^ffnfenfee: '' Be& Fasting* 

Action, whether God is the first and im- 

"^'tn^ffiate catise of every action, 38. 
"what it is that denominates an aotion 

f ' good or bad, 174. distinction between 

^^^-those that are Universaliy binding on 
all, and such as bind only some sort of 
<^^i&^n'/¥79i' the judgments to be made 
^ ' ^of thfem from appearances, ib* 

Acts of the Apostles, when and by whom 
wrote, 74. 

Acts, no successive acts in God, 30. 

Adam, wherein the image of God, in 
which he was created, consisted, 143, 
144. whether the death he was threat- 
ened with was only natural, 141, 145. 
whether by covenant he was consti- 
tuted to represent all his posterity, 147. 
of the propagation of his sin, 148. 
See Original Sin. 

Adoration, God only the proper object 
of it, 57. what it is, ib. Christ pro- 
posed in the New Testament as the 
object of it, ib. ought not to be given 
to any creature, 58. See Host. 

Adultery, on the part of the wife, dis- 
solves marriage, 377. this agreeable 
both to the law of nature and the gos- 
pel, ib. and to the practice of the pri- 



trine of a modern date, 378. 
Agobard, bishop of Lyons, wrote with 

great veheraenee against the worsii^ 

of images^ 310. 
Ahab, his feigned humiliation rewarded, 

174. . - : . 

Air, greatly iinproved by the industry of 

man, 36. . , . 

Almsgiving, a main part of charity, 370^ 
: See Charity. 

Altar, but one in a church among,t|\Q 
r pitaritive Christia^^^ - 
Amalrie expressly denied the corporal 
presencCi 443. is condemned by the 
Latei^ council, and his body raised 
and burnt on that account, ib. , 
Ambassador^ his extensive power, 359. 
Ambrose^ the variation of that prayer of 
consecration, which goes under his 
name, from that used ia the mass, 
436. : 

Ananias, wherein the guilt of his sin lay, 

^13. ,:; ■ . ^ . - - - . ..^ 

Anathemas, the form of denouncing ^j^em 
against heretics very ancient, 4B0. 
what was meant by them, ib. a great 
number of them denounced by the 
council of Trent, ib. those ill-founded 
cannot hurt, ib. See Censures. 

Angels, good or bad, are capable of do- 
ing many things beyond our reach, 78. 
are perfect moral agents, and yet can- 
not sin, 153. worshipping them ex- 
pressly forbid in the New Testament, 
322. invocation of them disclaimed in 
the first ages of Christianity, 323. 

Animal spirits, their subtile nature, 40. 
their influence on our managing mat- 
ter, 78. receive their quality from 
that of the blood, 144. are the imme- 
diate organs of thought and subtiler 
parts of the blood, 154. a conjecture 
how they may excite thought, 156. 



Annihilatibiri'only ift tJi% 'p^er W fei, 
"35. a common mistake about it recti- 
fied, ib. created beings have not a tfn- 
dency to it, ib. 
Atttiquity, not a note of tbe true cbuyeh, 

■ ' 
Apocrypba, thie Christian-churches Were 
for some a:g€s strangers to these books, 
^-113. We^^e^first mentioned by Athaiia- 
^liils; 114. E^here and by whom wrOle, 
ib. were left out of theisftnon bj^^Iie 
i iiouncil of l^odit^; y^e^^rsi'^^- 
ceived into it by tliteft .dTtTp^t©4t>. 
vWere alw*^& detiied tePbS*^ part8<SP# 
by the best and ^mosf learheii^i^s, 
:ib. See Maccabees. .^niiJsgsa 
Apostles were not the autho^^ of = ^e 
-Creed which goes by4hei^rfrt,q2. 
137. how far they complied- wi9i^y'&- 
^ddgm, a, 2^8. the difficulties tK^ 
met with in^opa^ting GbristiSn^, 
56. cotidd koPl^" itttffostors, ib. iii^ 
imposed on, - ^heiFbeing endoWiSi 
twith, extr^brdinary insprationV tt#^9 
,gianent^(i#a^i*ession of infelUbiM*|, 
281. of thfe ^mevs with whicli dfir 
Saviour sent them, 333, weM-'ksP 
constituted priests by ^ur Savioife^s 

453. did not derive their authortiy 

Jig^pnoi fjs-rsrrs-g visv m Jaift Jb bb'jv 

Apparitions, %her6 tore'many histories of 
them well attested, 41 . to disbelieve 
all unreasonable, ib. 

Apollinarian heresy. What it was, 4311 
was confuted b^ Mm Sm!^ 
different ages; ib.39"^fi' 

Aquarii, those who used water insf^'i 
of wine in the sacrament, 455. thfeS- 
reason for so doing", ib. are severely 
condemned by St. Cyprian, ib. - 

Aquinas, Thomas, his notion of pr#^ 
dehce and free-will, 198; his distift^i 
tibii to a^id making'- God the aii:lfi# 
of sin, 1^. hi^ doctipiW^^ft^riS?>§ 
image- worshipr3?29 s^^^doiq e .booIH 

Ariatis, ' thefr oplniU ^tMt'^^k^^^* 
creature of a spiritual nature, &9. 
couiicils decreie differently conceriiii^'^ 
this, 276. ' 

Arminians, their opinions of free-T^ft 
and predestination, 195. were i^ofii 
demhed by the synod of Dort, 204; 
tW btcasron of their becoming the 



'^Irinal points, ib. See Remonstrants. 
Artemon held the same opinion of 
'^Ohmt &s the Socihians, 61. 
Articles of the Church of England, ob- 
^ Sections against them, 1. reasons for 
tbeir descending to so many parti cu- 
iiars; 5. the fundamental Article of 
the Reformation, 6. how or by whom 
'the Articles were prepared, ib, what 
-s^e sanction of public authority to 
=^^fifem implies, 7. whether they are 
"Articles of peace only, or of doc- 
■^^¥ine, ib. to the laity, only Articles 
f^^F church-communion, 8. distinction 
4retween articles of faith and articles 
doctrine, ib. what the clergy are 
°l)'ound to by their subscriptions, 9. a 
royal declaration to end disput^^ 
"^out this matter,' 10. may have dif-^ 
■ yii^ent senses, ib. this illustrated by ' 
^ the third Article, ib. care taken to 
"ifettle the true reading of them, 11. 
Collations of them with MSS., 11— 
"liB. difficuity arising from the various 
"readings cleared, 1^9. express words 
"^ scripture for each Article not ne- 
^8essary, 97. several differences of the 
^^k^sent from those published in kin^ 
^'Edward's -reign, 69^ 115, 116, 34 
•3467* tbe latitude of the articles, 9, 
2226,338. fundamental Articles ought 
fiOt to be too strictly determined!, 
242. the moderation oif the Arti cle?, 
10, 151, 152, 22^S^^, 507. 
Assistance, the doctrine of inward as- 
sistances proved from scripture, 155. _ 
hf#w - Ifey^ ste conveyed to us, 15^f ^ 
the effect of them, ib. ^ _ ^ 
Ateanasius, his account of the boolc^^^ 
the Old Testament, 113. and those 
of the Apocrypha, 1 14. was not au- 
thor of the Creed which goes by 
liis name, 136. the condemnatoi^ 
clauses of if explained, ib. 
Atlffets, their objections to the argu^ 
feent, from the consent of mankind^ 
^r the Toeing of God answered, 20. 
<^ieir arguments for the eternity ijj 
the world considered, 22. that for it^ 
liieing made by chance answered, 23, 
^heir objections to miracles answered, 
25. the notion that the world is a 
body to God, the foundation of 
Atheism, 29. 



5S3 



Attrition,, an impeyfect ppntriti(wiya(66. 

!tUe doctrine of the church of liome 
, concerning it, ib. See Contrition. ^ ; 
Augsburg Confession of faith, on :ifl|at 
ocoasion it was prepared, 5. -^ -^ 
Av^ustin, or Austin, his doctrine of 
original sin, 147. and of reprobation, 
ib. hated Pelagiaaism, 197. wherein 
he diflfered from the Sublapsarians, 
198, speaks very doubtfully concern- 
ing the state of the soul after dea^h, 
294. a famous passage about his ano- 
ther Monica referred to, 295. his ex- 
traordinary relations of miracles not 
to be credited, 318. his de<^laration 
against invocation of saints, - 3^. 
thought that all who were baptized 
~ were regenerated, 396. his rule con- 
cerning figurative expressions, 423,„ 
Auricular Confession. See Confession- 
Authority of tie books of the Old Tes- 
tament, 95, 105. that of the New, 
101, 102. that of the Apocrj^ha dis- 
provedj 113. that of the church - in 
^religious matters not . absolute, 234. 
'in relation to ceremonies, 264.i dis- 
^tinction between that which is found- 
,ed on infallibility and an authority, of 
order, 268^ lawful authority in the 
church, what it is,- 337. is subjeiAto 
the law of the land, 482, the highest 
^t of their authority, 483 . that of 
pope^ 498,^ 499. of t-he king in-ft&- 
clesiastical matters, 502, 506. 
"Pope, King, Church. £-5; ,01 
„£t; I ^ : - - 9d3 .eonjsJaiadA 
?l[ r;,i:: ; A ' ^voiq asonfiJaia 

Bai^uUa, the least @nsnari^ ^^9^ 

^03. " 7 v : •: : 7" : : : 
Baptis|n, yhat i^t is, 44. the danger of 
aeFaying u till death, 190. what gave 
rise to this practice, lb. what neces- 
sary to make it true and valid. 242, 
that by laics and by women not nul^ 
though irregular, 244. the obligation 
baptism brings us under, 245. bap*, 
tism no new thing among the Jews in 
our Saviour's time, 391. its institu- 
tion as a federal act was by Christ, 
392. wherein the Christian differs 
from that of St. John, 393. what meant 
by being born of water and of . the 
Spirit, ib. it is a precept, but not a 
.mean necessary to salvation, 394. the 
ends and purposes of it, 395. the had 
consequences of maintaining the ab- 



solute ^ec^ssity of it, 396. how it 
tecome^ pfifectuai to salviktion, 397. 
(Wherein it agrees with circumcision, 
399. baptism of infants most agr«€- 
,ia^)le tq,tl» institution of Christ, 400. 
and to the practice of circumcision 
,under, the Testament, ib. wl^ji 
tbe ofRce for baptizing infants is the 
^^§ame with that for persons of riper 
^§ey 401. reasonableness of cb|^- 
,;i]Bg the form ti> sprin)iiir?g, 4^ Ai 
Ba^l>, Jt. iis Qf^njbaniij^ii^'to g9ttlSD;i)f 

, tiie 3iaai!t>ts, ^W^. vo Jf oJni bavioo 
Beasts ar^ .^otji^erg^^nf^hwes* 406 ?8Wiy 

rhav-t^piEit§..iaf an ittferipr-»rdear^ jb^c 
Begetting, the natwal: molmij^ oftfit, 
9^. ; wha<t ^iHiderstood :hy -^^itfeeftdtenf'. 
^fpok^ of; the-^on of Godiis bf^rfldd 
^ pur present comprehensiony/ibi 8 f 
Beginning, what meant by it th^^fe^t 
jcrfiSt.:- John's^ Gospel, &2. : -7 ^s.ti 
Bftgptt^n .and born of God, the me^- 
i ing of these expressions, 189,-,19'jMjf 
B^engariuSj his character, 442;. lopp^ied 
/the doctrine of the corporal presence, 
rib. had many followers, ib» 
Bipding loosing, that power grant- 
eq^lly-to all the apostles, 261. 
jv4at 4he Jewish writers meant by it, 

Jb- ' 7 ' ' - 
Bi^b^s, the d&c^M'atign ef -t faith 
was at first in very general terming, 
^hidvc^ey sent-reund tiiem-j ib; what A 
-phliged them afterwards to make ful- 
ler declarations, ^. a succession of 
tttein ,no certain note of - a true A 
■j^hijrj^ j^4-li v^^X: confirmation was 
in the earliest ages reserved for tie 
bishop^ only^.352.: no instructions pf,/^ 
celibacy given them in the New Tes- 
taingnt. 469. many of them in the 
best ages were married, 47 L of their 
ijoosecration, 494. are all equal bj^.A 
t^ir pfiice and character, 498. au- 
thority of those in great sees only 
from custom, 500. See Pope. 
Blood, a probable conjecture about the 
naturHai state of it, 143, its influencCiA 
on the animal ^irits, 144. 
Body, of the state of our Saviour's body 
from his death to his resurrection, 
^^0^81.. whether it put on a new form, 
in, his ascension, ib. glorified bodies 
ire of a. different texture from those of 

%sh ^^£)?l,e«4r.i4?^ iP^^^ 
rection. 



554 

Boniface VIII. pope, claimed a feuda- 
„ tory power in temporals over princes, 

Brain, the influence of its disorder upon 
the mind, 40. our thoughts are go- 
verned by impressions made on it, 
154. 

Breiad in the sacrament in what sense 
the body of Christ, 404. when dip- 
ping it in the wine became a practice, 
456. this condemned by the council 
of Bracara, ib. 

OJ v . '-':o f;wi3f G'-fJ -^sds^S 

Gaiir, golcten," wliat intention the Israel- 
ites had in making it, 304. the design 
of those calves set up by Jeroboam, 
ib. See Idolatry. 

Calvinists, how far they agree wit'h St. 
Austin about predestination, 198. the 
■peculiar advantages and disadvan- 
' MLges of their opinions on this sub- 
ject, 222, See Supral^sarians. 

Cahon..^ See Scriptures, 

Cahoiis'o^^the church, what respect due 
to them for antiquity, 488. the new 
canon law different from the old, 489. 
ancient canons little regarded by the 
reformers, 490. were brought into 
desuetude by the church of Rome, ib, 

Cassian, his doctrine concerning pre- 
destination, 197. is opposed and de- 
fended by several, ib. his collations 
were in great esteem, 198. 

Catholic, not a note of the true church, 
239. 

Ceslibacy of the clergy, no rule for it in 

fe .gospelj 468, not in the power of 
e church to order it, 469. the po- 
^ical advantages jjf it, 470. when 
l^^nd by whom it was first introduced, 
r^,h the pjractice of the ehuirch not 
jji|iiform in it, ib. was flot imposed on 
.jljl the clergy till the end of the 
^eventh century, 473. the good and 
, ^bad consequences of it, 470, 473. 
)t1r9WS not lawful in this matter, 474. 
ajid are not binding, though made, 
^J^^,,. ,.See:Oath..;„ 
Censures of the church, how to behave 
under them, 481, what right the 
^laity have to be consulted in them, 
482. are agreeable to tiie design of 
Christianity, 483, defects in them no 
just cause of separation, 484. popery 
introduced a great variety of rules 



.concerning them, ib. a further re- 
formation in these still wanted, ib.^^ 

Century, the great ignorance that pre- 
vailed in the tenth century, 441. 

Ceremonial law, was not designed to^e 
perpetual, 122. the design of its in- 
stitution, 128. is now abolished, as 
become useless and impossible, 129. 

Ceremonies, the church has power to 
appoint them, 264. the practice of 
the Jewish church in this matter, ib. 
changes in them sometimes necessary, 
265. the practice of the apostles, 266. 
when appointed, ought to be ob- 
served, if lawful, 267, 485. cautions 
to be observed In appointing them, 
267. unity among Christians, a gredt 
reason for observing them, 485. 

Cerinthus denied the divinity of Christ 
in the earliest age of Christianity,^. 

dialice. &e Cup. '''J 

Chance, the a,bsurdity of maintaining 
that the world was made by it, '24. 
an argument for this opinion answer- 
ed, ib. 

Charity and brotherly love, their great 
usefulness in the Christian religi6&, 
485. charity to the poor, of the 
tent of it, 178. what renders it ac- 
ceptable to God, 370. is more par- 
ticularly recommended by the gospel, 
514. our Saviour^ rule concerning 
the measure of it, ib. 

Charles the Great, a council in his time, 
and books published in his name, 
against image- worship, 310. intro- 
duced the Roman Missal into the 
Galilean chui'ch, 490, published many 
Capitulars concerning ecclesiastical 
matters, 504. 

Cherubims that were in the holiest df 
all, no argument for image- worship, 
^ 314,- . - . " ■ 

Cljildren, of their parents' power over 
them, 399; in what sense they arfe 
said to be holy, ib, 

Chinese, their allfeged antiquity with- 
out foundation,. 23. 

Chrism, used by the church of Rome in 
confirmation, what it is, 353, might 
only be consecrated by the bishop,. 
354. was applied by presbyters in the 
Greek church, ib. great disputes 
about it, 355. 

Christ, in two respects the ^on of God, 
51. in what sense of one substance 
with the Father, ib. proofs of his di- 



vinityV tl^— '62. this^was demed 
by Ebion and Cerinthus, 63. was the 
Creator of all things, 52. has all the 
names, operations, and attributes, of > 
God given him, 56. is proposed in 
the New Testament as the object of 
divine worship, 58. this not charged 
as idolatry by the Jews at that time, 
ib. the Jews understood this part of 
our religion in a manner consistent 
with their former ideas, ib. what 
those were, 59. the Arian and So- 
cinian hypothesis concerning him, 60. 
is not to Ije worshipped as an angel 
or prophet, but as truly God, 61. 
took on him the nature of man, 62. 
the two natures united in one person, 
.ib. the design of using the term Per- 
son, 64. that there shall be an end to 
his mediatorial office, ib, but not to 
his personal gloi'y, ib. of the certainty 
?iud design of his death, 65. it was 
not merely in confirmation of his doc- 
trine, and a pattern of suffering, 66. 
atoned for more than, Adam's sin, 67. 
}n what senge his death is said to be our 
sacrifice, ib, his agony explained, ib. 
the reconciliation made by , his death 
not absolute, and without conditions, 
68. of his descent into hell, 69. wh'e)i 
and by whom tbis article was intro- 
duced, ib. several different opinions 
about this, 70, 71. what seems to be 
the true meaning of it, 72. proof of 
his resvu"rection depends on the au- 
thority of the . New Testament, 73. 
several circumstances concurring |o 
prove it, 73—80. his ascension ii9t 
capable of so full a proof, 80. this 
^depends; chiefly on the testimony of 
the apostles and effusion of the Holy 
Ghost, ib. his resurrection was 
brought about by a miracle, ib. curi^ 
osity about the manner of it taxed, 
81. how it may be said he was three 
days in the, grave, ib. the intention of 
his staying forty days after on earth, 
ib. of the manner of bis ascension, ib. 
the great authority .vsdth vvhich he is 
vested, 82. of his glorious appearance 
at the last day, ib. whether he was 
the mediator of the old, as well as the 
new dispensation, 124. his death ap- 
plied to those who are incapable of 
expressly laying hold of it, 128. his 
death the only cause of our justifica- 



was without 

slh, 184. of the efficacy and extent of 
his death, 169, 208, 209. is our only 
mediator in point of intei-pession as 
well as redemption, 323. why he 
chose to suffer at the time of the 
passover, 404. he is the only Priest,, 
and his death the only sacrifice under 
the gospel, 461. 

Christianity gives much purer ideas of 
God than the Mosaic dispensation, 
57. the foundation of, 167. does not 
lessen the temporal authority, 503. 
raises the laws of loye and charity to 
a high degree, 514. does not con-r 
demn all oaths, 517. 

Christians are not exempt from capital 
punishment for great crimes, 508, in 
what case may engage in war, 509. 
or go to law, 510. are not obliged' 
to have their goods in common, 513. 
may swear on important occasions, 
517. 

Chronology, the diversity of it no suf- 
ficient objection to the authority of,^ 
the scriptures, 109. 

Chrysostom, St, mentions nothing of 
relics, 319, denies that any miracles 
were wrought in his time, ib. con- 
demns auricular confession, 363. 

Church ought to proportion lier rules 
of communion and censure to those 
of the gospel, 1 90. of its authority to 
establish doctrines, 233. what a true 
church is, 243, 247, 248, may be , 
visible, though not irifallibre, 247, of 
her power in appointing ceremonies, 
,'^64, 265. and in mattei,'s of faith, 
'268. can make no new terms of sal- 
^ationj 269. the meaning of Christ's 
words, 'Tell the church,' &c., 280. 
how the church is the pillar and 
ground of truth, ib, there was to be 
an authority in the church, 334, what 
it is, 337,. the order settled by the 
apostles was for succeeding ages, 335. 
every church an independent body, 
490. the respect due from one church 
to another, ib. wherein her authority 
in opposition to the civil magistrate 
consists, 506. 

Church of Rome owns the positive doc- 
trines of the church of England, 5. its 
tyranny in imposing its doctrines, 8. 
their opinion concerning the scrip- 
tures and traditions confuted, 90. 



M3M. 



.r,?! .tnmnq ^imhvi r.lioqmi f!0(,tjp,oir> 
leave the second commindmont out 



of their Catechism, 133. maintain that 
original sin is quite taken away by 
g |).g^|isiTj^ J145. the consequence of 
this, 146. their doctrine concernpg 
the remission of sins, 164. the uses of 
the sacraments, ib« and the suffici^^ncy 
, of inherent holiness for justification, 
166. what they call a good work, 172. 
^ what they teach concerning the love of 
^^ God, 176. their doctrine of superero- 
J gation confuted, 180. their distinction 
, t of mortal and venial sin, 187. justpre- 
Judices against its infallibility, 234 — 
262. their notes of a true church, 
^ ^239. these do not agree to their 
church, 240. have erred not only in 
, .their living apd ceremonies, but in mat- 
5 ters oit fajth also, 249. the influence of 
the popes on the canons, ceremonies, 
, r and government, of the church, 250. 
^i^.is guilty of a circle, 239, 270. the 
■|,, absurdity of this, ib. their doctone 
. :; concerning purgatory, 285, See, ||ur- 
!, gatoryo concerning pardons, 29i^^ of 
., indulgences, 299. of image-wor^|ip, 
, y 301. of worshipping of relics, 315^ of 
the invocation . of sainte .and angels, 
322. of worship m an unknown toaffue. 



344. of their five, additjpnal saci^- 

. mentSs 351. of the intention olF Jhe 



|j^j)rie&t being necessary to the essj^ce 
o^ a sacrament, 388. of transuhsj^n- 
tiation, 415. of withholding the cup 
from the laity, ^2. of the sacrifice 

, of the, mass, 460. of the celibac.|^f 
the clergy, 461. »^ 

Church of England and Rome, wherein 
they agree, and wherein of different 

^i^^ipions, 139. answer to the 9^^- 
tion, Where was your church b(j^ore 

, H^"^-y mi-^em.riStinA^llfkte' 

Circumcision, why not necessary t^ be 
^ continued, 123. of infants under^rthe 

I Old Testament an argument for in- 
fant baptism under the New, 400., 

Claud of Turin wrote with vehemence 
against image-worship, 310. 

Clergy, the import of their subscription 
to the Articles, 9. their marriage 
made an argument against the Refor- 
mation, 467. this not contrary to the 
purity of divine performances, ib. 

, those in England were married in the 
Saxon times, 472. are subject to their 



princes m ecclesiastical matters, 502. 
See Celibacy, Councils. 

Commandments, or moral law, the na- 
ture of it, 130, the two first against 
idolatry, 131. the morality of them, 
ib. the third against not only vain 

T^j and idle, but false swearing, 132. the 
mbrality of this, ib. the fourth, in 

^ what sense moral and reasonable, ib. 

' '|;he rigour of it abated by our Sa- 

'^j Viour, 133. these four distinct com- 
mandments, ib. why this division is 

" ^reYerred to that of the church of 
Ronje,;;ib.^ the jprder of the second 
table, ib. the fifth and tenth, how 
they are the fences of the interme- 
diate four, 134. in what sense the 
last is moral, ib. of the obligation of 
this law upon Christians, ib. 

Communion of the , body and blood of 
Christy tliermeamhg of it explained, 

;: 404. ; . . 

C6h^;omitance," ho sufficient argument 
for jcommunion only in one kind, 

pj^ieS5^.on oU sms, the scriptur^ ac- 
count of it, auricular confession 
^^,npt necessary, 361 . no authority for it 
^^^in se:^|)ture, ib. nor from the practice 
' "^of tne primitive Christians, 362. the 
^^^first occasion and progress of it, 363,. 
^ave great scandal at Constantinople, 
lb. how far the power of the church 
extends in this matter, 365. the good 
^ j.and bad effects of it, ib^ ought to he 
^np law of the church, because not a 
■^g^lW of God, 366. the bad effects of it 
^ fin the church of Rome, 366, 484. 
..^nfession of adversaries, not a note of 
.^the true church, 240. 
lonfirmation a very ancient practice, 
^and justifiable as used in the church 
^^ioi England, 352. reasons why it is no 
ism 

n., 
-II' 



sacrament, 353. the form of it in the 
:1iurch of Kome, ib. whether the 
only should confirm, 354. 
^. great disputes about this, 355. 
^^^secration, the effect of it in the eu- 
^ charist, according to the doctrine of 
the church of Rp me, 416. the virtue 
of it depends on the intention of the 
priest, 417. by whom a bell was or- 
dered to be rung at the consecration, 
439. it was an opinion that the Lord's 
Prayer was at first the prayer of con- 
secration, 457. 



m 



Consequences of opinions ought not 

to be charged as tenets, 423, '4^'^. 
Constance, council of, its decree for 
J withholding the cup from the laity, 
458. the absurdity of it, and cruelty 
used to establish it, ib. 
Constantia, the legend concerning her 
"" great respect for Hilarion's body, 
"318. 

Constantinople, council, made no new 
' additions to the Creed, 3. said that 
the Holy Ghost proceeded from the 
Father only, 89. condemned image- 
worship, 309. 
Consubstantiation, what the Lutherans 
" mean by it, 444. their doctrine con- 
futed, ib. ought not to dissolve, the 
union of churches where adorafipi^ is 
not Joined with it, 445. * 
^Contrition, the definition of it, 36^ 
wherein the church of Rome make it 



ib. their doc- 
liable to great 



'e^ 'from attrition, 
trine concerning it 
, abuse, 367. 

'borporal presence, ho\v the doctrine 
concerning it came into the church, 
' ''437 . the progress of it, 437-- 444. 

See Transubstantiation. 
Covenant, whether God made one with 
^^'Adam for his posterity, 147. the 
'^^ tenor of the new covenant, 190. 
"feovetousnesSj the precept against it not 
'" moral in the strictest sense, 133. not 
' a crime more peculiar to the married 
^^^^ than the unmarried clergy, 470. 
Councils, cannot be called without the 
consent of princes, 272. popes were 
'hot always consulted, 275^. have as- 
sumed the power of censuring, de- 
'^iing; and making popes, 274. what 
makes a council to be general, 1275. 
'ttie numbers necessary, and how cited, 
^'^ tb. not of divine institution, because 
no rules in scripture concerning 
them, 275. several arguments against 
^'^ their infallibility, 275 — 283. they 
" ' have been contrary to one another, 
276. disorders and intrigues in 
councils, ib. no general councils 
pretended in the first three cen- 
^'^'turies, 279. no prospect of another 
general council, ib. of the decree of 
"''''the council of Jerusalem, 281. some 
•""general coxmcits ' have erred, 282. 
^ doctrines are riot to be "bfelieved on 
"'^th^ir Marit^; 2Si ;^^^^ 



to 



Creation imports infinite power, 35, 52. 

the nearest approach to a true idea of 
itj lb. is ascribed to Christ in the 
New Testament, 56. 
Creeds were at first conceived in gene- 
ral terms, 2. that which goes by the 
name of the Apostles' not made by 
them, 2, 137. what probably was the 
first, 2. the occasion of their being 
enlarged, 3. those of Nice and Con- 
stantinople, ib. none of the three 
Creeds named with exactness, 135. 
that of Nice is the Constantinopoli- 
tan, ib. that of Athanasius not made 
by him, 136. that said to be the 
Apostles' of no great antiquity, 138. 
Cr6ss, a grayer used in the consecra- 
tion Of a cross, 313. ^^''^ 
Crucifixion of Christ, and his dMth, 
'^Wned by all Christians, 64. denied 
jSQj^ the Docetse and Mahomet, ib . 
Cup, Of chalice, in the sacrament, ought 
to be given to the laity, 452. this 
particularly enjoined in the words of 
institution, ib. not to the clergy only, 
as priests, 453. this the practice for 
above a thousand years, 455,' the in- 
sufficiency of concomitance and other 
arguments advanced against it, 454 — 

Cypnan m^i^no^^he inMibHity of 
pope Stephen, 251. made the effect 
of a sacranieut to depend on the good 
' ""s^tate of the administrator, 386. 

qiiG Vr"-^'--- - - - - - 

,'to eat and drink theirl8wn 
damnation explained, 411. damna- 
■ 'iibn sorrietiraes means temporary pu- 
nishments, ib. 
Daniel, his 



prophecy of the ' 
weeks explained, 121. ' ' '■' 
Death might have l^een the na^S con- 
sequence of Adam's fall, 147. this not 
to be restrained to a natural death, ib. 
how this might be transmitted W his 
posterity, 145. prayers for the ^ead, 
an early practice in the church, 294. 
what gave rise to it, ib. Tertullian's 
opinion about it, 295. the absurdity 
''■'of masses for the dead, 296. the 
^ method of commemorating eniilient 

' saints in the primitive times, ib^ '^' 
Death-bed repentance, the trustiri^ to 
'■' it a fatal error, 190, 368, 369.^ 
Decrees of God have been the stibject 



558 



rw ©8 JC.s 



of many disputes, 9j 140. tie feuHs- 
dation of the doctrine of absolute de- 
crees, 147. this seems contrary to tire 
nature of God, 148. and exposes the 
Christian religion, 149. upon what 
views God formed his decrees con- 
cerning mankind, 194. four opinions 
concerning them, 195, 1^6. 

Decretal Epistles of the first popes, with 
what view published, 252. are univer- 
sally held spurious, ib. was a forgery 
of the eighth century, contrived with 
little art, 438, 

Delivery unto Satan, an effect of the 
extraordinary power of the apostles, 
478, 479. 

Dipping in baptism, the danger of it ih 
cold climates, a good reason for 
^■fiftklihg, 454. the custom of di|)i- 
ping the bread in the wine in^lh^ 
Lord's supper, when introduced, :4S6'i'^ 
was condemned by the councilc^tf 
rBracajca, ib. : ^ 

Discipline in the church, the nature and 
nec^s^ity of it, 389^ 477. that of:the51 
primitive church lay- heaviest oastKe 
clergy, 389. moderation ought to be ' 
observed in it, 477. 

Divorce lawful in case of adultery, 377. 
our Saviour's rule in: this caae, ;!Hr* 
this agreeable to the; opmion of -die 
fethers, ib, the contrla^y /was nofrj^^tl 
tabHshed till the council of Trent^ 
378. V 

DocStse, a sect timt: denied Jiie (Jeath of ^ 
Christ, 64. 

Doctrine, the diiferenee between Arti- 
cles of faith, and those of doctrine, 8. 
the tyranny of imposing doctrines, ib. 
conformity of doctrines with former 
tinres, not a note ofea&itrufeiehureh, 
240. J i 

Donatists, their notions concerning the 
sacraments, 386. 

Dulia and Ifyperdulta, degrees of wor- 
ship paid to images in the church of 
Rome, 313. 

Durandus was <jensnred by the church 
of Rome for his opinion of image- 
worship, 311. ■ ■ : ^ ^ 

.f^f .V.jlslBll' 

Earth is greatly improved by man's in- 
dustry, 36. the influence of the wind 
upon it, ib. See World. 



Eating aitid dHnking' their own damtia- ! 

tiofl, the meaning of the phrase, 411; 

opinions of several fathers concerning 

eating and drinking Christ's body and « 

blood, 451. 
Ebion denied the divinity of Christ very 

early, 53. -'i 
Edward VI., differences of the Articles 

in his reign from the present, 115, 

116, 284, 341, 346, 402, 467, 494, 

497. 

Egyptians, their alleged antiquity with- 
out foundation, 23. 

Elders, who they were at the council of 
Jerusalem, 281. « 

Election, of election and predestination, 
193. See Predestination. 

Elevatioh of the host not known in the 
first ages, 428, 448. what gave rise to 
^ 449. Was not done at first, in ord6* 
t©i adoration, ib. who first mentions 
it with that view, ib. 

EHberisji^offiicil (!tf,i5t>nde«lned pictures 
on the walls of churches, 308. fm^ 
;1&id^tbe lighting ^candles about the^ 
tombs of martyrs \ in day-light, 319, 
328.^-;;;; ^ r;-;- - - - : ..... 

Elizabeth, queen, gives fiuthority to re-i- 
iquire subscriptions^ to the Articles,'9l 
It^oyal declaration for taking them in 
the literal sense, ib. her injunctions 
^acerning supremacy, 497. - - s3 

Elohirttr the meaning of it in the Old 
Testament, 43. 

Emperors, their authority in ecclesiasli-^ 
cal affairs, 503. " ■ 

Endowments were procured by impos- 
tors in the church of Rome, 297. by 
what means the profuseness of them 
was restrained, ib. when they are to 
be held sacred, ib. the violation if 
them, when founded on false dpinionsj 
nd sacrilege, 298. 

Enthusiasts, an extravagant sort of them 
at the Reformation, 123. - 

Ephesus, council, their decree concern- 
ing the Holy Ghost, 86. 

Epicureans set all things at lb¥t% 
denied Providence, 196. : 
Epiphanius, his zeal against pictures Iti 
churches, 308. is severe upon the 
-Collyridians for worshipping the bless^ 
ed Virgin, 328. ^ 
Epistles, why the general ones were not 
so early and universally received, as 
the rest of the New Testament^ 103. 



INDEX. 



559 



Erudition, a book published. Called the 
Necessary Erudition, a preliminary 
to compiling the Articles, 6. 

Eternity, in a succession of determinate 
durations impossible, 22. of the world 
disproved, 23. See Worldi»inub noicc 

Eucharist, in what sense it ■ t&ay be 
called a sacrifice, 459. the virtue of 
it, to whom limited, 460. the doctrine 
of the church of Rome concerning it, 
ib. wherein the virtue of it consists, 
462. the importance of the contro- 
versy concerning it, 465. See Lord's 
Supper. 

Eugenius, pope, does not mention bi- 
shops as belonging to the sacrament 
of orders, 374. 

Evil, whether God is the author of it, 
38. the being of it in the world, how 
accounted for by the Remonstrfuits, 
213. liberty cannot be asserted with- 
out it, 223. 

Evil spirits, what sort of miracles they 
can perform, 78» 

Eunapius, his spiteful representation of 
the primitive martyrs, 320. 

Eutychian heresy was condemned by 
the Mhanasian Greed, 136. what it 
was, 431. was confuted by several 
ancient writers, ib. the force of their 
argument explained, 432. 

Excommunication, the nature of it, and 
its necessity in some cases, 477 — 483. 
ought not to be done rashly, 483. 

Extreme unction no sacrament, 378. a 
passage in St. James, which seems to 
fcivoui it, explained, 379. the design 7 
and pftects of the anointing by the 
apostles and elders, 380. the matter 
and form of it used in the churdi of 
Rome, 381. was not reckoned a sa- 
crament in the first ages of Christi- 
anity, 383. when and by whom de- 
creed to be oncjt ib. argument for it 
answered, 304 , ; ko vi o 
-fliQonoo oQioeb "ibrfJ Jlonuoo ,8U89dqS 

Fabri Honoratus, the doctrines of the 
church of Rome examined in this 
book, chiefly taken from him, 375. 
his character, ib. 

Faith, the scriptures the only and com- 
plete rule of it, 89. no articles of it 
to be allowed, but what are proved 
from scripture, 96. an objection 
against this answered, 97. what is 



meant by it in the New Testament, 
162. how it justifies, 167. is indis- 
pensably necessary to salvation, 168, 
394. the nature of justifying laith, 
168. 1 
Fall of Adam, of its consequences to 
him^ and his posterity, 140, 149, 150. 
See Sin. 

Fasting, times bf fasting, appointing' : 
them in the power of the church, 265. 
when j oined with prayer, its effipacy, 
359. in what cases of no avail, 370. 
the absurdity of pretending to expiate 
sins by it, ib. 

Fate, the Stoics put all things, even the 
gods themselves, under it,. 196. this 
downright atheism, 9), was main^/J 
tained by the Bssens, ib. is a prer 
vjuling opinion among the Mahome- 
tans, ib. V 

Figures in scripture, how to be eji- 
plained, 112. were frequently made 
use of by Christ, 409. Augustine^s 
irale for explaining them, 423. 

Fia;e of purgatory, the proof alleged for 
it examined, 293. 

Forgiving injuries, the necessity arid 
extent of it, 190. 

Forms were settled very early in most'l 
churches, 2. ithese not all in the same 
words, ib. See Greed. • 

Francfurt, council, condemned the Nrs- 
ceiie council, togeliiei: with the wori- 
ship of images, 309. c ; S 

Fiaee«wil^ wh£rdmit;(fflajmstSiEl52^ ' SeeQ 
Liberty. J 

Fruraentius preached to l3ie Indians be.*CJ 
&re he was ordained,^ 340. 

Futiire state was looked for md^r th6 
Old Testament,^ 126il- but vis broi^lit 
,tQ} anmch d^er lights by the g&s^et, 
127. MS 

G. : - 

GelieflifS, 1Si§lt kno^ivn by that name^ 
"among the Jews, 72. 

Gelasius, pope, condemns the commti- 
nicating in one kind, only as sacri- 
lege, 456. 

General Council. See Cotincil. 

Gentiles, their prejudices against Chris- 
tianity, 76. 

German and Lupus reform Britain 
from Pelagianism, 197. a legendaiy 
miracle said to be wrought by theiaft, 
ib. to¥/ oa8 odi ,ii noq/i 



560 



INDEX. 



Gnostics pretended to traditions from 
the apostles, 96. their opinion con- 
cerning the soul, 196. were detested 
by all Christians for idolatry, 307. 

God, his existence proved from the uni- 
versal consent of mankind, 20. ob- 
jections that some nations do not 
believe a Deity, and that it is not 
the same belief amongst them all, 
answered, ib. the visible world, and 
history of nations, prove a Deity, 21 
— 25. whence the notion of a plu- 
rality of gods might take its rise, 21. 
the argument from miracles consi- 
dered, 25. and from the idea of God, 
ib. this not the most conclusive, 26. 
must be eternal, and necessarily ex- 
ists, ib. his existence ought not to be 
proved from scripture, 27. his unity 
proved from the order of the world, 
and from the idea of infinite perfec- 
tion, 27. from the scriptures, ib. is 
without body or parts, 28. the origin 
of the notion of a good and bad god, 
29. the world not a body to God, ib. 
the outward manifestations and bodily 
parts ascribed to God in scripture, 
how to be understood, 30. no succes- 
eive acts in God, 31, 33. question 
concerning his immanent acts, 31. is 
without passions, ib. the meaning of 
scriptures, which ascribe these to him, 
ib. is of infinite power, 32. objections 
to this answered, ib. wherein his 
wisdom consists, and a twofold dis- 
tinction of it, ib. true ideas of his 
goodness of great importance, 33. 
wherein it consists, ib. and how limit- 
ed, 34. has a power of creating and 
annihilating, 32, 35. is the preserver 
of all things, 35. this a consequence 
of his being infinitely perfect, 37. ob- 
jection against his providence answer- 
ed, 38. whether he does immediately 
produce all things, ib. or is the author 
of evil, 39. all agree that the Father 
is truly God, 48. just notions of him 
the fundamental article of all reli- 
gion, 48, 131. the best manner of 
framing an idea of him, 48. is the 
only proper object of adoration, 56. 
in what sense called the God of Abra- 
ham, &c. long after they were dead, 
126. image of God in which man was 
created, wherein it consisted, 143. 
distinction between the methods of his 



goodness and the strictness of his jus- 
tice, 1 74. the doctrine of the church of 
Rome concerning our love of God, 
177. his view in forming his decrees, 
194. what meant by his hardening 
Pharaoh's heart, 219. the impiety of 
speaking too boldly of him, 223. 

Goods, the unreasonableness of a com- 
munity of them, 513. 

Good Works. See Works. 

Gospel condemns all idolatry, 57. the 
design of it, 76. refines upon the law 
of Moses, 132. 

Government was settled in the church 
by the apostles, 334. the necessity of 
church government, 335. 

Grace, assisting and preventing grace, 
asserted and proved from scripture, 
155 — 159. a probable conjecture con- 
cerning the conveyance of actual 
grace, 156. the efficacy and extent of 
it, 158, 206, 209, 220. 

Greek church, wherein they differed 
from the Latins, 86. 

Gregory I., pope, condemns worship- 
ping of images, 309. the Ild de- 
clares for them, ib. the IXth first 
ordered the adoration of the Host as 
now practised, 439. Gregory the 
Great, his violent opposition to the 
title of Universal Bishop, 501. 

H. 

Head of the church, in what sense 
Christ is the only head of the church, 
507. and in what sense the king is 
called the head, ib. 

Hebrews, why the authority of the Epis- 
tle to them was doubted, 102. proofs 
of its authority, 103* 

Heliodorus, a bishop, author of the first 
romance, 472. proposed that clergy- 
men should live from their wives, ib. 

Hell, three different senses of it, 10. of 
Christ's descent into hell, 69. See 
Christ. The gates of hell shall not 
prevail against the church, the mean- 
ing of this, 260. 

Henry VIII. several steps towards 're- 
formation, and the foundation of the 
Articles were laid in his time, 6. 

Heresies occasioned the enlargement of 
Creeds, 4. 

Heretics, several of them pretended to 
traditions from the apostles, 96. when 



. i Ijhet (doctrine <»f ex tivpiUnngtlTdm^^ok 
'1,, place, 442... !..•."•!«•> -..ii.-' ir^.e-Mj 
.Hfizekiah commended.; !f»r ,i«Joal8ing.'fthe 
,>..,braaen serpent, 317. >.;.• -^uf 'H 
pilarionr a fabulou3i/Stoi7f0£7iiis^l)6dy 
'i,. and tpmb, 318. . > > iioj/ii^H'l 
Hobbes grafted f^t§i(»(t(io3'^lUt§q»e- 
cessity oii. |li€Su^J«s4*P&a5i$*i.^^^^ 
thesis, 204. ,-?ic. . /i&iit xo /linom 
Holiness of life,. , not; m ^^i^l/oiM^'^ 
.,.iChurch,-240. a t5^ofold,i§$^q&c^©U> 
.;,ness in scripture,, 400. y- -Jo n^iaob 
Holy Ghost, or Holy Spiig|, TyJ3^^n"t^nt 
,(,.by it in the; 014 and New ,X©st9.aw»Stf) 
J 84, is properly a distinct person in the 
'trinity, 85. curiosities about hi$ pyo- 
(iession to be avoided, il^^ decreeg-f^ 
several churches and councils about^it, 
.86. the doctrine.of the church.oX JSiijg- 
land concerning it, ib. ^is truly Q9d, 
, 87 V |iis - testimony not a sufficientnar- 
gument to prove the canon of jthe 
v,.^j»^ur;e^; 101, of the sin.o^gain&t-J;!© 
Holy Ghost, laS, 199a J 'dfej ^fte«^ed 
^f^ood tot,,the:HQly ^Gjlyjf t,. .^nc^i^^ji^ 
_,,th8 meaning- of 1^fin^8\o <^l^e 
. ..form, 'ileqeive fye,f^9ilig|y2^tfet,' 

in oi-dination, 49|,;-tobi5 eds befetio 
^cnnilies of the Churcitr-ieft-rcEngia^ad, 
-„their names, 491- vvheu and on wjiat 
accounts ,they,,w^e c.Q^njpiqs^di jly jil^he 
meaning of the approbation of them, 
492. ought to be read by all who 
subscribe them, ib. the meaning of 
tsP.tfaeir being :said; tOfibE mksessar^s^i 
uthent times, ib. odi «; isnu'D 

Honoi'iuSi pope,, was comdeinned ^asi a 
Monothelite, 251^ 252.>:th.e l lid ifost 
- sftjf^orirtte^ ihe adoration of the Hosll 

Host, adoration of it, by wliomrifirst jin- 

-argnment for it ■aasy^J^^^^p'JM&^o^te- 
.ijsex'ving, oarrying it abotopfteidarthe 

elevation of it, withowSifbiHBlafaiqfiaH 

scripture or priHaitMreofa&ctJte^Kffil?, 
, 448., , .>,iT .3?hd'3 

Huss, John, met with great cmUtyhqm 

the church of RomQij^^8ii:idi "io ^ni 
-91 zb'iBvoi aqoJa k-isYsa .017 x''"^^^ 
edi 'io noiSBbnno'i -^i has ,noii&mioi 

4fB^,»jfeMsg'* his 4«^te^ Qmmi 

ing the subscription of- the - Arti- 



«nrrAustin?$iiikH;nidftei)dIi^fKN| ntoDiac^ 
!;<i Count> f(his» boob ,esjbdeq|ttnodi at 

IberiaiaiSs ^efifotoouvterted by their "king 
asbefotoe/he^i&bapi^iBed, 340. -■ iHn> 
Wa^l?, ,atoniu«cfessitjj;.j'.o6 guarding 
jotftgabis*fi<ittiat 'ikn:-/. esiaiblishmisnfej of 
ioriCbHsHaamt^, 4n..w^^aiihk8S'ifeai^feat 
JlisinrfSiij l)3"|.nothie Jefe*w«areBpar4ieu- 
bnfeYl^iojffai(taisivofe{Ievety .tiiiag/siiiiat 
iSs^^fiiiaQds ©&dtg ^Ssofl®! dfis^aida^th 
~u^ jthkJeiwish/arrii:?Oirsktism peiigion 
JSo^djanfeii attGSIil'giiijrf "waaal mefdsithe 
-issaed Q6[A4>iiadoamoPifereripiHB^pFedfif6 
,ba©93.Btbe go^wreilaMijinflifioayitjbof 
,8$t„^3itt{30i» ^ieis«idi.?rtriBa;lKfancefei- 
-x«i§[lit#j^ief«*fiBa],Ikmd$90&<it Mocmg 
sdtbf ;fe^ftlEi^isj Ifii&JsiaasgHferydstsietly 
^jpuplafefitedaTjaaDgqifaBe 3mm^ 3B3« iit|iis 
,b&(wiii^fi<th1ef]^S)(»otlBeriEgyplia:n ido|a- 
<.otsly$)qibi}lf<3ifK "ta.pKi^ul'ailiiwns • ; of tlie 
?.i piKp^«!jagaisBtsiili,J ib7o]at)w'"practisied 
ni^yi(tlBri,isrgSi|a2!9^<^Q4.xir-(fcontcSuj^^ 
,b(!s^foarfitbi^ hsod^ peife«*ioto6ff ofiJGod, 
od3(I&OS(l)i ^ai ffloii*eihhs)'*heiMoMry 
xIii!fodUeni^rcQeik£jasMi£B(laais^U}&itii^ 
,9TCfipttsife notidM£tofofihd)9^1maaa^ieqn- 
-8«si>nkignit,02),b9cagifti«iih9dDflfiSftft^ 
nofe}8ihp wiBfersISf ,M)fiist fete* (mm- 

Ido^iiBmteifljiien<tfiii(EiBS«sffl%daiQrfS^^^ 
.ntiri tbes3piM3dr6ia-isj>iafere ^tamis^'ipm:- 
giitafcE9gfothM„'*P4>q sJinlitnl lo ..dl 
jyHu ncwarflscd, <,tKoia|?teawtang a dafed 
=8s8)esS:^p*14^ huB ,gJal8noo ffloi>3iw 
ierioftie,8iSlii ^a* aditnitfecip batuai&Y- 
. £eaj5gterrBi3|5f?i!Hcd?B£%ig%n's8g3k&^ 
=jllfla.w«miHtBiaiidtaJdiatoaii)( ilSiaa^n 
biiBOgikiib^all^pffl^ SSKBil sei-^ ,%h 
lovahseicfisifelkis, J^BS^SBu^fedliittfS! the 
sotramfkepjofflgEo^illleKS^bsi^ditHsttfiie 
=.(fe)ouS8q84ifesBg,iTjt9^in^tgf8*^ ^^feal 

J^Hib(sffrffiiagaeiBaffe»!#arfwell^9)yb£i)e 
loEtomffltiffcalholic^^^rft ilis so.uhoiq 
Jjosfttta, ssiheueil* thejfidlffergS firorm^ftie 
m r8e'toipelagdam^jl^98i^^fes<r^^ii^': 
-i Igreibinferifokbi^nlagit2<Mfc '^'J' ' ? • 
Jewff^nriaeir jaacfersiibii id-Hd^^tr^fo^SSid 
9dClarisfifeni^52l 'did riot charge ^iltetiis- 
,9fia|u<>y).8raihfi(Mati^/i58. tljein no^iens 
.r>trf/G&id|j(59.oth€6DliK>tioni of th"e/'s«Me 
,hj«rfl)th035ottV^er>aeiatiiV'' 7 1, '29K^^ex- 
cjj peieted ifheTMe^iaa'to be a conqueror, 
jJfZfi, ,95i were always rebellious, 106. 
eifKMberem the Jewish and Christian re- 

O 



562 



INDEX. 



ligions differed from those of the hea- 
then, 108. their objections against 
the authority of the New Testament, 
122. looked for more than transitory 
promises, 126. believed that some 
sins cannot be expiated by sacrifices, 
ib. of their ceremonial, judiciary, and 
moral laws, 128, 129. imagined that 
the souls of all mankind were in 
Adam's body, 149. the distinguishing 
point of the Jewish from the Christian 
religion, 211. their religion had a 
period fixed to it, 248. had many rites 
not mentioned in the Old Testament, 
265. fell into great errors, though the 
keepers of the oracles of God, 270. 
believe that every Jew shall have a 
share in the world to come, 291. they 
prayed only to God, 322. of the office 
of their high priest, 339. had their 
worship in a known tongue, 342. their 
authority over their children, 398. 
were strictly prohibited the eating of 
blood, 405. their objections to Chris- 
tianity, 426. 

Images, the worshipping even the true 
God by them expressly forbidden, 304. 
in churches when introduced, 308. 
great debates about them, 309. foun- 
dation of image-worship laid by the 
council of Nice, ib. is carried much 
further by the modern church of 
Rome, 310. those of the Egyptians 
and Chineses less scandalous, 311. 
the decision of the council of Trent 
in this matter, 313. reason for en- 
larging on this subject, ib. the argu- 
ment in favour of them drawn from 
the Cherubims answered, 314. the 
sum of the arguments against them, 
ib. the corruptions occasioned by 
worshipping them, 315. 

Immaterial substance, proof of its being 
in us, 39. its nature and operations, ib. 
objections against it answered, 40. 
there may be other intellectual sub- 
stances which have no bodies, 41. 
these beings were created by God, 
and are not rays of his essence, ib. 

Imposition of hands, a necessary rite in 
giving orders, 372. 

Indulgences, the doctrine and practice 
of the church of Rome concerning 
them, 298. when introduced and es- 
tablished, 299. the abuse of them gave 



rise to the Reformation, ib. the pre- 
tences for them examined, 300. no 
foundation for them in scripture or in 
the first ten centuries, ib. the natural 
ill tendency of them, 301. See Par- 
dons. 

Industry of man, of great advantage to 
the earth and air, 36. 

Infallibility, proofs of it ought to be very 
express, 234. is not to be inferred 
from the necessity of it, ib. general 
considerations against it, 235. miracles, 
though necessary, not pretended to 
support it, 236. the Jewish had a 
better claim to it than the Roman 
church, ib. reasons why it cannot be 
proved from scripture, 238. a circle 
not to be admitted, 239. notes of the 
church no proof of it, ib. argument 
against the infallibility both of popes 
and general councils, 255. proofs from 
scripture answered, 258. the impor- 
tance of this controversy, 262. no 
determination where it is fixed, 277. 

Infants are by the law of nature and na- 
tions in the power of their parents, 
399. argument from circumcision for 
infant baptism, ib. this agreeable to 
the institution of Christ, 400, 401. 

Infinite, time nor number cannot be in- 
finite, 22. difference betwixt an infi- 
nite succession of time, and composi- 
tion of matter, 23. 

Injuries, our Saviour's words concerning 
them explained, 509. 

Innocent I., pope, his Epistle advanced 
to favour the chrism, does not prove 
it, 382. the Vlllth granted license to 
celebrate the Lord's supper without 
wine in Norway, 454. the IVth said 
that all might have the cup who were 
cautious that none of it was spilt, 457. 

Insects, the argument for chance from 
the production of them considered, 
24. 

Inspiration, a general notion of it, 110. 
several kinds and degrees of it, ib. 
different styles in those degrees, 111. 
distinguished from enthusiasm and 
imposture by miracles and prophecy, 
ib. of individual words, or strict order 
of time, not necessary, ib. 

John, St. the passage concerning the 
Trinity in his first Epistle doubtful, 
46. the beginning of his Gospel ex- 



INDEX. 



563 



plained, 52. this confirmed by the 
state of the world at that time, 53. 

Jonas of Orleans wrote against image- 
worship, 310. 

Josephus, his account of the books of 
the Old Testament, 113. 

Josias, what those books of the law 
were which were discovered in his 
time, 108. 

Irenaeus, his care to prove the authority 
of the Gospel, 102. 

Judgment, private, ought to be allowed 
in religious matters, 246. 

Julian the Apostate, though he re- 
proaches the Christians for baptism, 
does not charge them with the absur- 
dities of transubstantiation, 427. ob- 
jected that the Christians had no 
sacrifices, 463. 

Just, or justified, two senses of these 
words, 160. 

Justification, several mistaken notions 
of it, 123. whence they proceeded, ib. 
the law of Moses not sufficient to jus- 
tify, 160. the condition of our justifica- 
tion, 161, 164. the difference between 
St. Paul and St. James on this sub- 
ject explained, 162, 163, inherent 
holiness not the cause of justification, 
166. what we ought to believe con- 
cerning it, and the proper use to be 
made of this doctrine, 169. 



Keys, of the power of them committed 
to St. Peter, 260. 

Kingdom of heaven, what meant by it 
in the gospel, 260. 

Kings, their authority, founded on 
scripture, 502. and practice of the 
primitive church, 503. this does not 
depend on their religion, 506. can- 
not make void the laws of God, ib. 

King of England declared head of the 
church, 497. this claimed very early 
by them, 504. 

Kiss of Peace, a practice of the aposto- 
lic times, why let fall, 265. 

L. 

Laity, were of great use to the church 
in times of persecution, 482. had a 
right to be consulted in the decisions 
of the primitive church, ib. how far 



required to submit to the clergy, 482, 
483. 

Languages, the gift of them to the 
apostles, a strong proof of Chris- 
tianity, 75. 

Laodicea council, their catalogue of the 
canonical books, 114. why the book 
of the Revelation was not in it, ib. 
condemned those who invocated an- 
gels, 324. 

Latria, a degree of religious worship, 
the doctrine and practice of the 
church of Rome concerning it, 311, 
312, 313. 

Laud, archbishop, falsely accused with 
corrupting the doctrine of the church, 
18, 19. espoused the Arminian tenets, 
204. 

Law, not binding the consciences of 
those of a different persuasion, 6, 7. 
in what sense the laws of the Jews 
are said to be statutes for ever, 122. 
why not always observed, 123. errors 
that flowed from mistaking the word 
Law in the New Testament, ib. the 
design of the ceremonial law, 128. it 
is now abrogated, 129. judiciary laws 
of the Jews belonged only to them, 
ib. what is meant by the moral law, 
130. laws of the church in matters 
indifferent are not unalterable, 488. 

Lay administrations in the church not 
lawful, 333—336. lay baptism, how 
introduced, 396. 

Liberius, pope, condemned Athanasius, 
and subscribed to Semi-Arianism, 
251. 

Liberty, several opinions about it, 152, 
153. wherein it consists, 153. the 
notions of the Stoics, Epicureans, 
Philosophers, and Jews, concerning 
it, 195, 196. that of the Fathers, 
196, 197. what coaction is consistent 
with it, 210. the Remonstrants' no- 
tion of it, 214. several advantages 
and temptations that attend the dif- 
ferent opinions, 222. See Predes- 
tination. 

Limbus Infantum, a supposed partition 

in hell for children that die without 

baptism, 147. 
Limbus Patrum, what, 71. without 

foundation in scripture, ib; 
Lombard, Peter, the first that reckons 

seven sacraments, 351 . 
Lord's supper, the change made in iho 

o 2 



564 



i N D E A. 



Article concerning it in queen Eliza- 
beth's reign, 402, 403. the import- 
ance of the controversy with the 
church of Rome concerning it, 403, 
415. the words of the institution ex- 
plained, 403 — 408. the design of it, 
410. who are unworthy receivers of 
it, 411. the danger of this, 411, 
450. of the good effects of worthy 
receiving, 412. what meant by the 
communion of the body and blood 
of Christ, ib. of receiving it in both 
kinds, 452. 
Lucifer, the common notion of his sin, 
55. 

Lucretius owns that the world had a 
beginning, 23. his argument for 
chance from the production of in- 
sects, answered, 24. 

Luther, what determined him to em- 
brace St. Austin's opinions, 199. 
whether he asserted free-will, 202. 

Lutherans have universally gone into 
the Semipelagian opinions, 202. 
their doctrine of consubstantiation, 
444. wherein it differs from transub- 
stantiation, ib. 

Lie, what is the lowest, and what the 
highest, act of that kind, 301. 

M. 

Maccabees, the first book commended, 
291. the second of little authority, 
ib. the argument in favour of purga- 
tory taken from this book confuted, 
292. 

Macedonians denied the divinity of the 
Holy Ghost, 86. this heresy con- 
demned by the Athanasian Creed, 
135, 136. 

Mahomet denied the death of Christ, 64. 

Mahometans, one sect assert liberty, 
but the generality fate, 196. maintain 
that men of all religions are equally 
acceptable to God, 228. 

Magistrate, the extent of his authority 
in sacred things, 485. 

Man, though all resemble one another, 
yet each have their peculiar differ- 
ence, 24. 

Manichees denied the authority of the 
Gospels, 102, scarce deserved the 
name of Christians, 104. their absurd 
opinions, ib. concerning the Old and 
New Testament, 116. of original sin, 



142. did not use wine in the Sacra- 
ment, 456. 

Marcionites, their opinions, 102, 196; 
are opposed by Origen, 196. 

Marriage, in what degrees, and why, 
unlawful, 130. why it ought to be for 
life, ib. the meaning of that passage, 
' Such as marry do well, but such as 
marry not do better,' 179, 474. is no 
sacrament, 374. in what sense a mys- 
tery, ib. the bad consequences of the 
Romish doctrine on this subject, 375. 
is dissolved by adultery, 377. the 
practice of the church in this matter, 
ib. whether a Christian may marry 
an infidel, 399. that of the clergy 
lawful, 467. is recommended equally 
to all ranks of men, 468. is one of 
the rights of human nature, 469. se- 
veral of the apostles and fathers of 
the primitive church were married, ib. 

Martyrs, the regard due to their bodies, 
315. this being carried too far de- 
generates into superstition, 316. 

Mass, the absurdity of saying masses for 
the dead, 296. this was the occasion 
of great endowments, 297. as prac- 
tised in the church of Rome not 
known in the primitive ages, 464. 
what was understood by it in the pri- 
mitive church, ib. solitary masses not 
known to them, ib. the bad effects of 
them, 297, 465. 

Matter, of the divisibility of it, 22. a 
difference between the succession of 
time, and the divisibility of matter, 
23. is a passive principle, 25, 49. is 
not capable of thought, 39. objec- 
tions to this answered, 40. how the 
mind acts on it, we cannot distinctly 
conceive, ib. had its first motion 
from the Eternal Mind, 49. the great 
influence of the animal spirits on it, 
78. 

St. Matthew's and St. Mark's Gospel, 
Papias, his account of them, 102. 

Maurus Rabanus wrote against the cor- 
poral presence, 440. 

Mean, what meant by it, 394. 

Melito, bishop of Sardis, his account of 
the books of the Old Testament, 113. 

Memories of the martyrs, what, 318, 
319. 

Merit of congruity, what meant by iti 
175. there is no such merit, ib. See 
Works. 

'ignaim mi m 



1 N D E x! 



565 



Messias, the revelation those before and 
under the law had of one, 117. Jews 
have long had, and still have, an ex- 
pectation of him, ib. proofs of the 
Messias from the Old Testament, 
117 — 121. Daniel very express in 
this matter, 121. the proofs summed 
up, 122. the objections of the Jews 
answered, ib. 

Metaphor, no good foundation for ar- 
gument, 280, 288. 

Middle knowledge, what meant by it, 
32, 33, 200. 

Millennium, an account of it, 290. 

Mind. See Soul. 

Ministers, their unworthiness hinders 
not the effect of the sacraments, 386. 
their intention not necessary to the 
essence of a sacrament, 387. ought 
to be censured for their faults, 389. 

Miracles well attested a proof of the 
being of a God, 25, a distinct idea 
of them, 49. the nature and de- 
sign of them, 77, 422, how to know 
if they are performed by good or evil 
spirits, 77, 78. of those wrought by 
Moses, 106. the spiteful construction 
put upon those of our Saviour by the 
Jews, 188. are necessary to prove infal- 
libility, 234. the instruments of them 
not to be superstitiously used, 317. 
were not to be attempted without an 
inward impulse, 380. are an appeal 
to our senses, 420. those that are 
contrary to our senses not to be be- 
lieved, ib. the absurdity of those pre- 
tended in the chuixh of Rome, 415, 
sr 423. 

•^Missals, those of the Gallican church 
c different from the Roman, 490. 
Molina and Fonseca invented the mid- 
dle or mean science, 200. what meant 
by it, ib. 

Moral evil, how reconciled with provi- 
dence, 38. the occasion of physical 
evil, ib. 

Moral Law. See Commandments. 

Morality, the sources of it, 130. two 
orders of moral precepts, ib. religion 
the foundation of it, 131. 

Moses, the design of the Mosaical re- 
ligion, 57. God's design in oi'dering 
him to put things in wi'iting, 93, 94. 
his miracles a proof of his divine 
mission, 106. the design and autho- 
rity of his writings, ib. his laws not 



unalterable, 123. of the covenant he 
made between God and the Israelites, 
124. the several things he supposed 
knovi^n, ib. the Jews had better rea- 
son to invoke him, than Christians 
have any saint under the gospel, 322. 
Mysteries that contradict reason are not 
to be believed, 421. 



N. 

Natalitia, the day of a saint's death, so 

called, 295. 
Nature, though we cannot fix the bounds 

of it, we can know what goes beyond 

it, 77. 

Nazianzen, his complaints of councils, 
276. 

Necessary, whether God's acts are so, 
30. 

Necessary Erudition, the title of a book, 
published at the beginning of the Re- 
formation, 6. 

Necessary existence must belong to 
God, 26. 

Necessity justifies the breaking through 
the rules of worship, 339. 

Nectarius, bishop of Constantinople, 
what occasioned him to forbid con- 
fession, 363. 

Negative, why to be maintained in 
points of faith, and not in matters of 
fact, or theories of nature, 6. 

Nestorius, his doctrine concerning the 
person of Christ, 63, 64. concerning 
the Blessed Virgin, 320. his heresies 
ai-e condemned in the Athanasian 
Creed, 135, 136. 

Nice, council, composed their Creed 
out of many former ones, 3. what 
they determined concerning the Tri- 
nity, 47. asserted the worship of 
images, 309. was rejected in Eng- 
land on that account, 310. the history 
and acts of that council give a bad 
opinion of them, ib. the nature of 
that worship they allowed to images, 
311. 

Nicene Creed, an account of it, 135. 
Nicolaitans, a name of reproach given 

to the married clergy, 473. 
Notes, the pretended ones of the true 

church examined, 239. 
Novatians opposed the receiving the 

lapsed into the church, 189, 362. 



INDEX. 



o. 

Oaths, ill and rashly made, ought not to 
be kept, 475. what an oath is, 515. 
a false one, what, ib. oaths were very 
early used, 516. are lawful among 
Christians, 517. objections against 
them answered, ib. all vain and rash 
swearing condemned, 518. when and 
in what manner they ought to be 
taken, ib. 

Oil began very early to be used in sa- 
cred rites, 353, 381. what probably 
introduced it, ib. that used by the 
apostles was attended with a miracu- 
lous effect, 378, 379. the form of 
applying it in the church of Rome, 
381. this is of a modern date, 382. 
argument from the fitness of it an- 
swered, 384. 

Old Testament. See Scriptures. 

Opinions, a rule to be observed in repre- 
senting different opinions, 151. in 
what case opinion is no excuse for 
sin, 446. 

Opus Operatum, or the act of receiving 
the sacraments not sufficient to con- 
vey grace, 347. 

Orders, the different ranks of them in 
the church, 371. no sacrament, ib. 
what the essentials of them are, 372. 
validity of those of the church of 
England, 494. See Pastors. 

Ordination by laymen valid, 340. the 
form of it in the Greek church, 372. 
in the church of Rome, 373. several 
regulations about them, 494. the 
phrase, * Receive ye the Holy Ghost,' 
which is used in them, explained and 
vindicated, 495. 

Origen, his care in settling the canon 
of the New Testament, 102. his 
opinion of the soul, free-vnll, and 
providence, 196. his doctrine was 
much followed, ib. 

Original sin, various opinions about it, 
140 — 142. what the scriptures teach 
concerning it, 142. how it may be 
conveyed, 143, 144. the consequences 
of it more than a natural death, 144. 
the effects of it not quite taken away 
by baptism, 146. 

Overal, bishop, espoused the Armi- 
nian tenets, 204. 



P. 

Pagans not excused from idolatry, be- 
cause they worshipped the true God 
under their idols, 446. 

Papias, who conversed with the apos- 
tles, his account of the Gospels of 
St. Matthew and St. Mark, 102. 

Papists. See Church of Rome. 

Parable, consequences to be drawn from 
the scope of them, and not from par- 
ticular phrases, 288. 

Paradise, what notion the Jews had of 
it, 72. 

Pardon of sin, the conditions of it, 33. 
the doctrine of the church of Rome 
concerning pardons, 299. the abuse 
and bad consequences of it, 182, 298. 
this gave rise to the Reformation, 

299. the pretence of their being only 
an exemption from penance examined, 

300. is without foundation in scrip- 
ture or antiquity, ib. 

Parents, their authority over their chil- 
dren by the Jewish constitution, 398. 
this agreeable to Christianity and the 
law of nature, 399. their obligation 
more particularly to take care of 
their souls, 400, 401. 

Paris council condemned image-wor- 
ship, 310. 

Passion defined, 31. in what sense as- 
cribed to God, ib. its influence, 153. 

Passover, the original and design of its 
institution, 403. a type of our de- 
liverance by the Messias, 404. 

Pastors, a succession of them ought to 
be in the church, 333. this to con- 
tinue till the end of the world, 334. 
and did not belong to the infancy of 
Christianity only, 335. the danger of 
taking this office, without a due vo- 
cation, 335, 336. who are lawfully 
called, 336. lawful authority, what, 
337. where the jurisdiction is fixed 
in the church of Rome, 339. what 
may be done in cases of necessity, ib. 
instances of lay preachers, ib. 

Patriarchal authority of the see of 
Rome is dissolved with that empire, 
502. 

Pelagius, his opinion of original sin, 
140. objections against it, ib. his 
opinion of liberty, 154, 197. his cha- 
racter, 197. is opposed by several 
learned men, ib. had many followers 
in Britain, ib. 



INDEX. 



567 



Penance, a long one imposed on sinners 
in the primitive times, 182. whence 
the word is derived, 355. the several 
acts of it, ib. no characters of a sa- 
crament in it, 357. the doctrine of 
; the chm'ch of Rome concerning it, ib. 
no sacrament, because of a modern 
date, ib. many canons about it, 363. 

, the ancient discipline slackened, ib. 

, , whether penance is to be performed 
before absolution, 368. the absurdity 
of the doctrine of the church of 
Rome on this subject, ib. what is 
the true penance enjoined by the 
gospel, 369. 

Perfection, no councils of perfection in 
the New Testament, 177. a passage 
in the nineteenth of St. Matthew, 
which seems to imply this, explained, 
s 178. in what sense we are called to 
be perfect as God and Christ, 185. 
the scripture represents the best of 
men as imperfect, ib. this is no en- 
couragement to live in sin, ib. 

Perseverance, a necessary consequence 
of absolute decrees, 211. 

Person, resulting from the conjunction 
of two natures, what, 62. what meant 
by Christ's having one person, 64. 
of the personality of the Holy Ghost, 
86. 

St. Peter, of the authority committed to 
him, 259. had no superiority, 499. 
was withstood by St. Paul, ib. 
Pharisees, asserted free-will and provi- 
dence, 196. 
Philosophers, their opinion of matter, 
29. despised revelation, secret assist- 
ances, and miracles, 76. their account 
of original sin, and the pre-existence 
of souls, 142. were puzzled about 
,V free-will and providence, 196, were 
' not so gross idolaters as the vulgar 
/ among the heathens, 302. 
Philosophy was new modelled to ex- 
plain transubstantiation, 424. 
"I'hotinus, his opinion of Christ, 61. 
Pictures in churches condemned by the 
council of Eliberis, 308. soon led to 
"'^' idolatry, 309. 
Plato, his opinion of the soul after 
death, 291. was probably the source 
of purgatory, ib. 
Polycarp, a remarkable passage con- 
cerning his body, 317. 



Popes, when they took the full power 
of indulgences to themselves, 182. 
have been condemned !br heresy, 
251, 252. their ambition, forgeries, 
and cruelties, 252. of their pretended 
power over princes, 253. arguments 
against their infallibility, 250, 254. 
alleged proofs of it answered, 259. 
several absurdities in asserting it, ib. 
were not much consulted in calling 
some councils, 273. of the pardons 
and indulgences granted by them, 298, 
have been the most wicked succes- 
sion of men history has produced, 438. 
their authority was pretended to long 
before their infallibility, 498. their 
jurisdiction founded on a forgery, 
501. the extent of their claim, and 
by whom completed, ib. See church 
of Rome. 

Prayer, what outward gestures proper 
for it, 57. prayers for the dead, an 
early practice in the church, 294. 
what gave occasion to it, ib, Tertul- 
lian's opinion of them, 295. why not 
practised in the church of England, 
ib. prayers in an unknown tongue. 
See Worship, the great efficacy, of 
prayer with right dispositions, 370. 
the absui'dity of appointing prayers 
as a task, ib. 

Preaching of the apostles, the nature of 
it, and wherein it differed from that of 
their successors, 398. 

Precepts, wherein they differ from the 
means of salvation, 394. 

Predestination, the controversy about it 
reduced to a single point, 193. three 
main questions that arise out of it, ib. 
various opinions about it, 194. his- 
tory of the controversy concerning it 
both in ancient and modern times, 
195 — 204. general reflections on the 
subject, 221. the advantages and dis- 
advantages of the several opinions, 
222. points in which all are agreed, 
224. how far the Article has deter- 
mined in this controversy, 225. the 
design of the cautions added to it, 226. 
passages in the Liturgy concerning it 
explained, 226, 227. the impartiality 
observed in treating this subject, 227. 

Prescience, the notions of the Supralap- 
sarians concerning it, 205. those of 
the Sublaparians, 212. the certainty 



568 



INDEX. 



of it is not causal, but eventual, 217. 
a conclitionate prescience agreeable to 
scripture, ib. 
Presence, real, the meaning of it as 
taught by the church of England, 414. 
the doctrine of the church of Rome 
concerning it, 415. the mystical pre- 
sence is acknowledged by them, 423. 
whence the controversy about the 
matter of the presence took its rise, 
439. 

Preventing grace, proof of it, 157. of 
the efficacy and extent of it, 158. 
See Grace. 

Priest, the rules concerning the high 
pi'iest of the Jews dispensed with in 
eases of necessity, 339. the Jewish 
notion of a priest, 461. Christ was 
both a Priest and Sacrilice, ib. 

Primasius, his comparison of the eucha- 
rist, 435. 

Private judgment, objections against it 
answered, 245, 246. is allowed by the 
church of Rome, 246. 

Procession of the Holy Ghost, we can 
have no explicit idea of it, 85. yet 
ought to be believed, 86. 

Pi'omises, whether any other than tem- 
porary under the old dispensation, 1 24. 
those that were national only tempo- 
rary, ib. particular persons had a 
prospect of a future state, 125. proofs 
of this, 125, 126. 

Prophecy, not a mark of the true church, 
240. of those relating to the Messias, 
117—122. 

Prophetical writings, why dark and ob- 
scure, 110, 111. 

Providence, wherein it consists, 36, 37. 
how the difficulty of conceiving it may 
be removed, 37. objections against it 
considered, 38. the necessity of it, ib. 
was denied by the Epicureans and 
Sadducees, 196. how the great de- 
signs of it are carried on, 218. 

Punishments, the temporal ones of good 
men, no argument for the reserve of 
others in another state, 287. the law- 
fulness and necessity of capital punish- 
ments, 507. the measure and extent 
of them, 508, 509. 

Purgatory, the doctrine of the churcla of 
Rome concerning it, 284. no founda- 
tion for it in scripture, 286. argu- 
ments for it considered, 287, 288. 



reasons for rejecting it, 289. a middle 
state not warranted from scripture, ib. 
different opinions about the state after 
death, 290. the sources of this doc- 
trine, 291. argument from Maccabees 
examined, ib. a passage from the New 
Testament alleged in favour of it, 
considered, 293. not known for the 
first six hundred years, 294, was ne- 
ver received by the Greek church, ib. 
is a remnant of paganism, ib. the great 
abuses of this doctrine, 297. political 
reasons are not su%ieut to support 
it, 298. fiv?^ 

R. 

Radbert, Paschase, the first who asserted 
and explained the corporal presence, 
440. was opposed by all the eminent 
men of his time, ib. 

Ratramne, his account of the real pre- 
sence, 440. 

Real presence, the meaning of it in the 
doctrine of the church of England, 
414, the absurdity of the Romish 
doctrine on this head, 415 — 424. See 
Transubstantiation. 

Reconciliation by the death of Christ is 
not absolute and without conditions, 
68. 

Redemption, the Remonstrants' notiQ|k^t 
of its extent, 218. " 

Reformation, why many wild sects 
sprang up with it, 4. the fundamental 
article on which it depends, 6, the 
main ground upon which it is justified, 
100. what occasioned the first begin- 
nings and progress of it, 299. 

Reformed, their different opinions con- 
cerning free-will and predestination, 
202. 

Reformers, reasons for their descending 
into so many particulars, 5. put Chris- 
tianity on its right foundation, 167. 
those in England were Sublapsarians,-. 
202. 

Regeneration, how it may be explained, 
156. 

Relics, whence a superstitious regard 
for them took its rise, 316. the con- 
sequence pf enshrining of them, ib. 
were appointed to be venerated by 
the council of Trent, ib. have no 
countenance from scripture, 317. nor 
from the practice of the first Chris- 



INDEX. 



569 



'tians, ib. no use made of them in the 
times of persecution, when most ne- 
cessary, 318. fables and forgeries in- 
vented to support them, 318, 321. the 
novelty of the worship of them, 320. 
Religion, just notions of God the basis 
of it, 34, 48, 131. the assistance that 
revealed religion can receive from 
philosophy, 144. the design of natural 
and revealed religion, 154, 332. the 
truths of religion are impressed by a 
divine direction, 156. Alcoran asserts 
that all religions are equally accept- 
able to God, 228. Hobbes makes 
religion and law to be the same, ib. 
the hypothesis of those who would 
accommodate their religion to their 
secular interest, ib. these opinions 
condemned, 229 — 231. all religions 
are not alike, 232. a true notion of 
it, 369. 

Remission of sins, the notion of it un- 
der the old dispensation, 126, 127. 
not previous to justification, 163. is 
an act of God's favour, 166, 167. the 
nature of it in the gospel, 286. of 
the power of it committed to the 
apostles, 357, 358. in what sense it 
is continued by their successors, 261, 
262. 

Remonstrants, their opinions concern- 
ing free-will and predestination, 195, 
213. their arguments, 213— 221. diffi- 
culties obviated by their doctrine, 218. 
tlie advantages and disadvantages of 
it, 222, 223. 

Repentance, not the valuable considera- 
tion, but the condition of justification, 
168. the true notion of it, 356, 368. 
the danger of trusting to a death-bed 
repentance, ib. 

Reprobation, the Supralapsarians' notion 
of it, 212. is a doctrine hard to be 
digested, 224. 

Resurrection, the possibility of it, 42. 
of the nature of the body after it, ib. 
was denied by the Sadducees, 94. 
was believed under the Old Testa- 
m.ent, 124 — 127. completes the hap- 
piness of a future state, 290. 

Resurrection of Christ. See Christ. 

Revelation, what it is, and the design of 
it, 154, 332. that which destroys the 
evidence of our senses is not to be 
believed, 420. See Scripture. 

Revelation of St. John its authority 



proved, 104. why not mentioned in 
the catalogue of the council of Lao- 
dicea, 114. 

Righteousness, the doctrine of the 
church of Rome concerning it, 166, 
167. that of the reformed, 167. 

Rites. See Ceremonies. 

Rock of the church, what meant by it, 
259, 260. 

Roman catholic. See Church of Rome. 
Ruffin was the first who mentioned the 

article of Christ's descent into hell, 

69. 

S. 

Sabbath is not moral in the highest 
sense, 132. the reasonableness of it, 
ib. of the change of it, 133. works of 
necessity or charity may be done on 
it, 179. 

Sacramental actions, the nature of them 
considered, 453. may be altered as 
to circumstances, ib. 

Sacraments, the doctrine of the church 
of Rome concerning them, 164, 347. 
its bad consequences, ib. of the essen- 
tials of them, 244. are to be mea- 
sured only by the institution, 296. 
are more than mere ritual acts, 347, 
348. do not justify by the Opus Opera- 
turn, 349. a sacrament defined, ib. 
matter is of the essence of it, 350. 
must be instituted by Christ, ib. Pro- 
testants acknowledge only two, ib. 
Lombard the first who mentioned 
seven of them, 351. reasons for re- 
jecting the five additional sacraments, 
384. sacraments are ordained to be 
used, and not to be gazed on and 
carried about, ib. their effect depends 
on the worthy receiving, and not on 
the intention of him that dispenses 
them, 386. 

Sacraments considered as acts of church- 
communion, or as federal acts, 450. 

Sacrifices, expiatory ones, the nature 
of them, 65. how the death of Christ 
may be said to be our sacrifice, 67. 
in a general sense all religious wor- 
ship may be so called, 459. but one 
Priest and one Sacrifice in the Chris- 
tian religion, 461. answer of the 
fathers to the heathens, who charged 
them with having no sacrifices, 463. 

Sadducees denied the resurrection 94, 



570 



I N D E X. 



from whom sprung, and what gave 
rise to their opinions, 123. our Sa- 
viour's answer to their puzzling ques- 
tion, 125. asserted liberty free from 
all restraints, 196. 

Saints were not invocated under the Old 
Testament, 322. more rational founda- 
tion for this under the old than under 
the new dispensation, ib. Christ the 
only mediator and intercessor, 323, 
this superstition derived from the 
heathens, ib when it was introduced, 
325. its progress, ib. the absurdity 
of it, 326. scandalous offices of this 
kind in the church of Rome, ib. what 
they found this practice upon, 327. 
arguments for it examined, 327 — 331. 

Salvation, whether eternal salvation was 
promised under the Old Testament, 
124. is to be obtained only by the 
name of Christ, 228. of those who 
never heard of the Christian religion, 
230. curiosity in this not to be in- 
dulged, 231. how far the Article has 
determined in it, 232. difference be- 
tween the means of salvation, and 
commanded precepts, 336. 

Samosatenus, his opinion of Christ, 61. 

Sanctification, what it is, and wherein 
it differs from justification, 164. is 
not perfected in this life, 189. 

Scandal, the true notion of it, 487. the 
fear of giving scandal no warrant to 
break established laws, 488. 

Schism in the church, the making it a 
great sin, 486. 

Schoolmen, their vain attempt to ex- 
plain the Trinity, 85. their many 
subtilties in the doctrine of the eu- 
charist, 418. their explanation of the 
real presence, 443. 

Scot, John, his character, 441. wrote 
against the doctrine of the corporal 
presence, ib. 

Scotus, Erigena, wrote against St. Aus- 
tin's doctrine of predestination, 198. 

Scriptures, the being of God ought not 
to be proved from them, 27. his unity 
frequently asserted in them, ib. their 
style suited to the capacities of those 
for whom they were writ, 29, 30. 
their meaning to be taken from the 
scope of them, 39. New Testament, 
when wrote, 74. was early received, 
75. the names and number of the 
canonical books, 88. arc the only 



complete rule of faith, 90. Old Testa- 
ment was always appealed to by 
Christ and his apostles, 94, 95, 105. 
the care taken to preserve them, 95. 
just consequences from them are to 
be believed, 97. contain all that is 
necessary to salvation, 98. are no sure 
guard against error, 99. ought not to 
be read carelessly, ib. proofs of the 
canon of the New Testament, 101 — 
105. their authority is not founded 
on the judgment of the church, 104. 
that of the Old, 105—112. why di- 
vided into three volumes. 111. why 
they were called canonical, 1 15. 

Sees, whence their privileges and ex- 
emptions rose, 489. the vanity of 
keeping up their ancient dignity, ib. 

Semipelagians, their notion of assisting 
grace and free-will, 155, 197. 

Senses, their influence on the mind, 315. 
the importance of their evidence, 420. 
they determine our judgment of 
miracles, ib. the foundation of our 
belief of them, 421. were appeal^4 
to by the fathers as infallible, 426., ,p, 

Septuagint was highly esteemed in our 
Saviour's time, 106. when, and at 
whose charge, it was wrote, 107, 108. 
how it may be reconciled to the He- 
brew, 109. 

Serenus, bishop of Marseilles, his zeal 
against image-worship, 309. 

Serpent, brazen, the breaking it when it 
came to be superstitiously used, vin- 
dicated, 317. 

Severity ought not to be affected, 191. 

Sin, Adam's sin said to be personal by 
the Pelagians and Socinians, 140. 
our being liable to death and the 
miseries of mortality thought by some 
to be original sin, 141. experience 
and scripture teach an universal cor- 
ruption, 142. how this came about, 
143. God's justice vindicated in the 
imputation of Adam's sin, 143. whe- 
ther it deserves damnation, 144. 
church of Rome believe original sin 
is taken away by baptism, 145. St. 
Austin's doctrine concerning it, 146, 

147. the manner of its propagation 
not easy to be explained, 147. reasons 
why many are of a different opinion, 

148. how they explain the passages 
of scripture, and the Article concern- 
ing it, 150. what meant by deadly 



INDEX. 



571 



and venial sin, 187. the sin against 
the Holy Ghost explained, 188. none 
capable of this sin since miracles 
have ceased, 189. of the pardon of 
sin after baptism, ib, is pardoned ac- 
cording to the sincerity of our repent- 
ance, 190. what meant by the sin unto 
death, 191. difference to be made 
between deliberate sins and sins of 
infirmi-ty, ib. sins once pardoned not 
liable to after punishment, 286. unless 
with temporal chastisements, 287. of 
the apostles' power of remitting sins, 
358. whether this be continued in the 
church, ib. 

Socinians, their notion of the death of 
Christ, 66. of Adam's sin, 140, ob- 
jections against it, ib. their doctrine 
concerning predestination, 195. their 
opinion of prescience and contingen- 
cies, ib. how far they agree with the 
Remonstrants and Calvinists, 221. 

Soldania, a most degenerate nation said 
to deny the being of a God, 20. 

Son of God. See Christ. 

Soul is distinct from matter, 39. what 
perceptions we have of its nature and 
operation, ib. of the souls of beasts, 
40. the soul is not the same with the 
animal spirits, ib. how it acts on 
matter, inconceivable to us, ib. in 
some places of scripture stands for a 
dead body, 70. philosophers' notion 
of its pre-existence, 142. how defiled 
by Adam's sin, 145. conjectures about 
its state after death, 289. various 
opinions concerning this, 289 — 295. 

Spirits, animal, their nature and use, 40, 
154. are the immediate organs of 
thought, ib. 

Spirits, invisible, the probability of their 
existence, and conjectures about their 
nature, 41. are not emanations or 
rays of the Divine Essence, ib. what 
meant by the spirits in prison, 70,71. 
of the power of evil spirits, 77. See 
Soul. 

Stephen, St. worshipped Christ in his 
last moments, 58. no other care taken 
of his body, but to bury it, 317. no 
mention made of worshipping him, 
324. 

Stepben, pope, his infallibility denied by 

Cyprian and Firmilian, 251. 
Stephen, bishop of Autun, the first who 



introduced the word transubstantia- 
tion, 443. 

Stoics, made all sins alike, 187. put all 
things under a fate, 196. 

Sublapsarians, their doctrine concerning 
predestination, 212, avoid answering 
the SupraUipsarians, and seem in 
effect not to differ from them, ib. 

Subscription, what the clergy are bdund 
to by their subscription of the Arti- 
cles, 9. does import an assent to 
them, 11. different persons may sub- 
scribe to them in different senses, ib. 

Suetonius, his account of Christ, 74. 

Supererogation. See Works. 

Superstition, the danger of its being 
suffered to mix with religion, 316. 

Supralapsarians, the chief basis of their 
doctrine concerning predestination, 
204. their arguments from the ab- 
surdity of the contrary opinion, 205. 

Supremacy of the pope disproved, 498 — 
502. that of kings or queens assert- 
ed, 502—506. 

Swearing. See Oath. 

Symbols, federal, the nature of them, 
413. 

T. 

Temple, how the glory of the second 
exceeded the first, 119. 

Thought difiTerent from matter and 
motion, 39. has no parts, 39, 40. 
whether beasts have thought, 40. is 
governed by impressions made on the 
brain, 154. is influenced by the ani- 
mal spirits, 156. 

Time cannot be eternal, 22. is not di- 
visible to infinity, as matter is, 23. 

Timothy and Titus, rules given them 
concerning church government, 334. 

Tradition, oral, the regard due to it, 91,' 
92. the doctrine of the church of 
Rome concerning it, ib. no rule in 
matters of faith, ib. the scriptures in- 
tended to prevent the impostures of 
it, 92. no certain way of conveying 
the articles of religion, 94. was ob- 
jected against on many occasions by 
our Saviour, ib. the occasion of great 
errors and ruin of the Jews, 94, 95. 
the apostles laid no stress on them, 
95. arguments of Irenffius and Ter- 
tullian against them, 96. objection 
from the darkness of scripture an- 



572 



I N D E t. 



swered, 97. the difference between a 
settled canon of scripture and oral 
tradition, 104. traditions concerning 
image- worship departed from, 310. 

Transubstantiation, a paragraph against 
it in the Articles in Edward the Vlth's 
reign, 402. why it was afterwards sup- 
pressed, 402, 403. the doctrine of the 
church of Rome concerning it, 415. 
the consequences of it, 416. the 
grounds on which it was believed, 418. 
is contrary to our faculties both of sense 
and reason, 419. it was not received 
in the first and best ages, 424. seve- 
ral presumptive proofs of this, 424 — 
429. the fathers believed the elements 
continued to be bread and wine after 
consecration, 429 — 431. by whom it 
was formed and broached, 431. seve- 
ral arguments against it, 433 — 451. 
how this doctrine crept into the church, 
437. by whom the term was first in- 
troduced, 443. 

Tree of knowledge of good and evil, 
and the tree of life, conjectures about 
them, 141, 144. 

Trent council, the disappointments of it, 
a great probability there will never 
be another, 279. first received the 
Apocrypha into the canon, 114. their 
decree concerning good works, 170. 
declined to give a clear decision about 
image- worship, 312. reasons of this, 
313. did not determine positively 
about relics, 316. did not decree the 
office of a bishop an order, or a sa- 
crament, 374. was the first that de- 
creed the indissolubleness of marriage, 
even for adultery, 378. decreed ex- 
treme unction to be a sacrament, 
383. 

Trinity is not to be proved by reason, 
42. tradition of it very ancient, ib. 
not to be proved by the Old Testa- 
ment without the New, 43. what meant 
by one substance, and what by three 
persons, in explaining it, ib. the diffi- 
culties in it no sufficient reason for 
not believing it, ib. different methods 
of explaining it, ib. several proofs of 
it, 44 — 46. from whence the errors 
in this doctrine took their rise, 48. 

Tully, his account of the notion the 
heathens had of their images, 305. 

Twisse, carried it high to the Supralap- 
sarian hypothesis, 204. 



V. 

Valentinians pretended to traditions from 
the apostles, 96. 

Various readings of the scriptures, 
whence they arose, 109. are inconsi- 
derable, and affect not our faith or 
morals, ib. 

Ubiquity of human nature impossible, 
444. 

Vigilantius complains of the worshipping 
of relics, 316, 320. and of saints and 
angels, 328. 

Virgin, blessed, was reprimanded by our 
Saviour, 185. why she was not taken 
notice of in the first age of supersti- 
tion, 319. has the preference to God 
and Christ in the worship of tho 
church of Rome, 326. 

Virgins, parable of ten virgins contra- 
dicts supererogation, 181. 

Visible church, what it is, 233. 

Understanding is as free as the will, 247. 

Union of the church among themselves, 
and with their head, is not a note of 
the true church, 240. 

Unity of the Godhead, proofs of it, 27. 
is a chief article of the Christian reli- 
gion, 28. 

Unity among Christians, the advantages 
of it, 486. the great sin of dissolving 
it, ib. 

Vows of celibacy unlawful, 475. of the 
obligation of them, ib. See Oath. 

Usher, archbishop, his explanation of 
Daniel's seventy weeks, 121. 

W. 

War, in what cases lawful, 511. and 

when unlawful, ib. 
Water in baptism, what it is an emblem 

of, 391. 

Will, whether it is always determined by 
the understanding, 153. wherein our 
liberty consists, ib. the opinions of the 
Pelagians and Semipelagians con- 
cerning it, 154, 155. See Liberty, 

Winds, their great influence on the earth, 
36. are under a particular direction of 
Providence, ib. 

Wisdom of God, wherein it consists, 32. 

Women are not allowed to teach, 334. 

Works, what is meant by good works, 
163. they are indispensably necessary 
to salvation, 170. the doctrine of the 
church of Rome concerning them. 



INDEX. 



573 



172. none absolutely perfect, ib. this 
the opinion of the best men in all ages, 
ib. the absurdity of asserting the merit 
of g'ood works, ib, the use to be made 
of the doctrine of the imperfection of 
good works, 173. whether any good 
works can be performed without divine 
assistance, 174. works of supereroga- 
tion, the foundation of that doctrine 
destroyed, 180. its bad consequences, 
183. 

World is not eternal, because time nor 
number cannot be eternal or infinite, 
22. the novelty of history, a further 
proof of this, 23. not made by chance, 
°'^4. objection from the production of 

. 1X6 



insects answered, ib. is not a body to 
God, 29. is preserved by a constant 
Providence, 36. many changes made 
in it by the industry of man, ib. shall 
be destroyed by fire, 82. 
Worship of God, what it is, 341. the 
design of the various acts of it, ib. the 
philosophers' notion that the varieties 
of worship were acceptable to God, 
228. that it should not be in an un- 
known tongue proved firom reason, 
scripture, and the practice of the pri- 
mitive church, 341 — 344. when the 
present practice of the church of 
Rome was introduced, 344. argu- 
ments for it answered, 344, 345. 



i j-mdo exn: 



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-3 .di ^niedj 'to noiJB^ildo 
: sM .qoifgrddoiB jisrfalJ 
J3W x}n9798 a^hici&d 



=fii J8i.a 8fiw nnsJ edi modw ^rf .T8i^ 

j-gbelworri ?b 991T 



adi b9Yr909i istft ,9tS ,*t9il^offB sd 
«9X0 .HI ,nonao sdi oiai siq^isoqA 
»0?l ^giiow boo^ §fim*f90floo -3^ ■> 
iuods flolgiosb isgfo s 9vi^ oi Bs;; . r 
tBidt lo gnosB9i eqxdaioW"? V 
^l9vi^xaoq saianeieb ioa bib 
sdi 99ia9b ioa bib .618 ^soile-i ; 
-B3 s to jtgbio im qodaid s \o 
-9b i&di Jgift odi aBw >T8 ^iaeiamc- 
«9§Bhifimlo aesngldxjfogaibiii adi bsato 
-Z9 bssiosb .8t8 ^x^Qilnbs 10J 0973 



Xd 



..ii// 
di 



oiq 9d oi ioa gi ; 
Mi iiadioas itsv ii noriibBil .Sii- 
-^JasT biO 9d^ xd bgvoiq sd oi Ion 
JOBsoi ifidw ,81^ ,W9VI sdi Ixjoriixw jns/?^; 
99id* vd'Jsdw bim ,9on£3adju3 sno (d 
-ffiib sdi ,dx til ^crmiBlqxo ni ^anoaiaq 
^o'f ^03591 JnsxoifiiJa on ii m po.f-tfrj'. 

■agioBib =.d{ ^ii ^ - 

'?fsv93 .di -^1- 
sdv; raoil 



mi 
mi 



as J„ii>Ex 



TEXTS OF SCRIPTURE, 



>ND OF THE APOCRYPHA, 

REFERRED TO IN THE WORK. 



'Those marked thus (*) have been added in this edition. 



GENESIS. 



i. 26,* note 


Page 


42 


27. 


143 


27, 28. 


143 


iii. 15. 


117 


22. 


141 


vi. 5. 


142, 172 


viii. 21. 


142 


xii. 1.* 


93 


3. 


117 


XV. 6, 


160 


xxi. 23. 


516 


xxii. 18. 


117 


xxvi. 24. 


117 


28. 


516 


xxviii. 14. 


117 


xxxi. 19.* 30.* 


93 


53. 


516 


xlix. 10. 


117 



EXODUS. 

i. 21. 172 

iii. 1. 132 
6. 125 

iv. 21. 212 

vii. 22. 219 

viii. 15, 19, 32. 219 
X. 20. 212 

xi. 10. 212 

xii. 3—14. 403 
xiv, 8. 212 
xvii. 14.* 92 
XX. 4,* 5.* note 249 

4, 5.* 302 

17, 133 

xxiii. 20. 59 
21.* 59 

xxiv. 4.* _ , ,,,,, 92 
12.* ^ ^ ^ 94 



XXV. 22.* 
xxix. 42.* 



! ^ Page 

xxxii. 1, 4, 5. 304 
10, and through 
the whole Old Tes- 
tament 150 
32. 322 
xxxiv. 6. 213 



LEVITICUS. 



93 
516 
405 
389 



i. 3, 4. 
V. 1. 

vii. 26, 27. 
X. 3. 

xiii. 3 * 6* &c. note 359 

xiv. 11,* note 359 

xvi. * note* 65 

xvii. 14. 405,* note, 406 
xix. 12. 132 
xxvi. 1. 303 



NUMBERS. 



xvi. 38. 
xxiv. 17. 



297 
117 



DEUTERONOMY. 

iv. 13, 15, 17, 23. 303 

V. 21. 133 

vi. 3.* 97 
4. 27 
4,* note 27 
6—9.* 97 

vii. 7, 8.* 207 

viii. 3* 81 

ix. 4— 6.* 207 
X. 15,* 16.* 207 

xi. 18—21.* 97 

xii. 30. 303 

xvi. 22. 303 

xvii. 12,* note 236 



Page 

xviii. 15. 117 

xxvi. 16, to end of 
Deut. 107 

xxvii. 8.* 92 
36, to the end 107 

xxxi. 9,* 19,* 22,* 24— 

26.* 92 

xxxi. ]1_13.* 97 

xxxiv. 6. 316 

JOSHUA. 

vii. 292 

viii. 32, 35.* 97 

ix. 15, 19.*MJAgq 516 
xxiv. 2, 3.* 93 

26.* 92 



xvii. 2. 



JUDGES. 

516 

SAMUEt..^-^ n-n 



iii. 11. 


38Q 


xiv. 24, 28, 44. 


516 


XV. 30. 


502 


17. 


502 


xxii. 14. 


502 


xxiii. 11, 12. 
9—12.* 


217 


94 



2 SAMUEL. 



xxi, 1.* 



viii. 46. 
xii. 27_33 
xvi. 31. 
xxi. 29. 



516,. 
1 KINGS, .n 



m 

304 
174 



INDEX OF TEXTS. 



575 



2 KINGS. 

X. 30, 3 
28, 29 
xiii. 21. 

xvii. 28, 32, 41. 

xviii. 4. 

xxiii. 2,* 21,* 24.* 



Page 



174 

304 
317 
305 
317 
98 



1 CHRONICLES. 



xxiii. 6. 
xxxviii. 21. 



503 
503 



2 CHRONICLES. 



viii. 14, 15. 
X. 8, to the end 
xvii. 8, 9. 

16—19. 
xxviii. from 36 to the 

end 
XXX. 18, 19. 
xxxiv. 14. 



503 
603 
503 
503 

107 
172 
107 



EZRA, 
iii. 12,* note 



^8 ,f!vx 

120 



NEHEMIA4Ii 



viii. 1—8.* 
8. 

18.* ' 



JH801 



PSALMS. 



i. 15. 

XV. 4. 

xvi. 10.* , J 
11. 

10 * 
11. 

xvii. 14, 15. 
xxxiii. 11. 
x^x^i^. 9. 
xlixi 7. 

14, 15 

1. 15. 

li.^; 2, 16, 17. 

10, 11. 

17. 
Ixv. 2. 
Ixxiii. 24. 
Ixxxiv. 11. 
Ixxxvii. 6. 
xc. 17. 
xcvi. 13. 
xcviii. 5. 
xcix. 8. 

5 9. 
cvi. 19,' 26. 



98 
342 



342 



322 
475 
70 
71 
81 
125 
125 
208 
210 
181 
125 
322 
126 
217 
155 
459 
331 
71 
125 
125 
125 
125 
435 
287 
314 
304 



Page 




Page 


ex. 3. 209 


xvii. 9. 


142 


cxvi. 405 


xxiii. 5. 


119 


cxix. 18, 27, 32, 35. 155 


xxxi. 29, 30. 


148 


18, 35. 246 


31—34. 


119 


exxx. 3, 4. 172 


33, 34. 


155 


cxli. 2. 331, 459 


33, 34. 


209 




xxxi. 34. 


286 




33, 34.* 


246 


PROVERBS. 


xxxvi. 2, 28—32.* 


92 



ii. 6.* 

iii. 6, 34.* 
xvi. 4. 
xxiv. 16. 
XXX. 8. 



18 



i 

155 



212 



142 
179, 514 



ECCLESIASTES. 



vii. 29. _ 
ix. 11. 

xi. 9. 

xii. 14. 



142 
241 
125 
125 



ISAIAH. 



i. 18. 126 
V. 4. 208, 220 

vi. 1.* 3,* 9* 10.* 63 

vii. 14. 118 

viii. 1.* " 92 
20.* 98 

xi. 1, 2, laaiTivajiis 



xii. 3. 
XXV. 8. 
XX vi. 19. 
xxix. 13.* 
XXX. 8. 
xxxiv. 16.* 
XXXV. 5, 6. 
xl. 26, 28.* 
18—27 



409 
125 
125 
178 

92 

- 98 
otoa *, > 117 
^eiou 52 



xlii. 1—4. 
8. 


331 


xliv. 6, 8. 


28 


6,* note 


28 


9—21. 


303 


24.* 


52 


xlv. 5.* 


52 


xlviii. 12,* 13.* 


52 


li. 12* 13^ 
liii. 




10.* 


67 


liv. 13.* 


246 


Ivii. 2. 


71 


Ixi. 


118 


1. 


71 


Ixv. 1. 


158 


5.* 


477 



JEREMIAH. 



i. 9, 10,* note 
iv. 2. 
X. 1—17. 
1—16.* 



359 
517 
303 
52 



EZEKIEL. 



xviii. 20. 
24. 
32. 
xxxiii. 11. 
xxxvi. 25, &c. 
26, 27. 
26, 27. 



148 
220 
214 
220, 214 
119 
155 
210 



DANIEL. 



vii. 9.* 
10.* 

ix. 

24—27. 
xii. 2.* 
2. 



HOSEA. 



viii. 4, 5. 
xiv. 2. 
xiii. 9, 



82 
82 
127 
121 
83 
125 



, s.i^ All 

304 
331 
220 



JOEL. .y. 

\di M 
' ' ■ MICAH. -^i 



2. 



HABAKKUK. 



i. 13. 

ii. 2.* 
18—20. 



119 



213 
93 



HAGGAL 



ii. 9. 

3,* note 
6—9. 



.01 .ix 
59 
120 
119 



ZECHARIAk\;5' 



MALACHL 



iii. 1—3. 
IV. 5, 6. 



120 
121 



576 



mmK OF TEXTS. 



Page 

1 MACCABEES. 

i. 56. 108 

2 MACCABEES, 
xii. 40. 291 



MATTHEW. 



ii. 4—6.* 


98 


4. 


81 


iii. 2. 


260, 391 


6. 


357 


7. 


150 


15.* 


392 


iv. 4.* 


81 


10. 


28, 53 


10.* 


57 


17. 


260 


V. 12, 15 


140 


17,18. 


134 


17,* note 


406 


26. 


287 


32. 


377 


33. 


132 


34—37. 


517 


39, 40. 


509 


48. 


150, 185 


vii. 22, 23. 


387 


viii. 14,* note 


468 


ix. 6. 


56 


X. 15. 


217 


41,42. 


171 


xi. 21. 


217 


21—23. 


208 


25,26. 


207 


27. 


56 


xii. 7. 


265 


24,31. 


188 


25, 26. 


78 


32. 


288 


xiii. 11,* 19,* 
48.* 


24*— 


260 


xiv. 9. 


475 


XV. 


433 


3, 6, 9. 


94 


5. 


475 


^ 7—9.* 


178 


xvi. 15. 


281 


16, 18, 19. 


259 


16,* 18,* 19,* note 259 


18. 


248 


xviii. 17,* note 


236 


17. 


280. 48g 


19. 


45 


35, 


190 


xix. 9. 


377 


10, 11, 12 


469 


13, 14. 


401 


16,17,20,21. 178 


sex. 16. 


211 


. 20. 24. 


185 


• 21, 24, 26. 


499 


28. 


66 


xxi. 21. 


380 


xxii. 21. 


266 





Page 


xxii 29. 


125 


31, 32. 


125 


36—40, 


177 


xxiii. 23. 


265 


37. 


219 


XXV. 9. 


181 


31.* 


82 


31.*— 46. 


83 


46.* 


83 


xxvi. 26. 


404; 


26, 27. 


351: 


37, 39.* 


184; 


41.* 


146 


63, 64. 


516 


xxviii. 19. 


45, 350 


19, 20. 


392 


20. 


248, 281 


40. 


392 


MARK. 




ii. 27. 


133 


vi. 13. 


379 


viii. 38. 


229 


IJi.. oo, oo. 


4QQ 


X. 11. 


377 


Xlt I 1 . 


TOO OQ7 


xiv. 22. 


404 


xvi. 15. 


209,281 


16. 


349, 394 


LUKE. 




i. 3, 4.* 


93 


4. 


96 


6. 


185 


20. 


185 


ii. 49. 


185 


iU. 14. 


511 


iv. 16—21.* 


98 


vii. 19—23.* 


98 


ix. 26, 


82 


xi.l3. 


84, 155 


52. 


261 


xii. 33. 


179 


xiii. 3,* note 


360 


xvi. 18. 


377 


25.* 


289 


xvii. 4. 


190 


10. 


177 


xxi. 4, 


514 


xxii. 19. 


404 


24—27.* 


499 


32. 


262 


xxiii, 40. 


150 


43. 


289 


43, 46. 


72 


xxiv. 25—27.* 


98 


25—27.* 


105 


44. 


105 


47. 168, 288, 393 


52. 


57 



JOHN. 

i. 1, 2, 3. 52 

13. 158 

14. 63 





Page 


i. 25. 


391 


29. 


66, 404 


36,* note 


162 


ii. 4. 


185 


25. 


56 


iii. 3, 5. 


147. 349 


3, 5, 6. 


84, 393 


6. 


143 


6,9. 


185 


8. 


157 


18. 


160, 168 


19. 


231 


25. 


56 


iv. 22,* note 


446 


23, 24. 


341 


34. 


184 


V. 25, 26. 


56 


39.* 


94 


40. 


144,220 


vi. 44.* 


158 


32, 33. 


407 


56, 63. 


408 


39,40. 


56 


47, 48, 51. 


407 


53, 54, 55. 


408 


viii. 10, 11. 


150 


xi. 51. 


339 


xii. 41.* 


63 


xiii. 1. 


211 


34, 35.* 


485 


xiv. 1. 


323 


2.* 


82 


2. 


155 


13. 


56, 380 


16, 26. 


85 


16, 26.* 


87 


26. 


87 


XV. 5, 16. 


158 


12, 17.* 


485 


26. 


56, 87 


xvi. 8—13. 


85 


13.* 


87 


13. 


280 


xvii. 3. 


28 


6.* 


209 


9, 10. 


209 


11, 12.* 


211 


11, 21—23. 


486 


12. 


219 


xviii. 8, 9.* 


211 


22, 23. 


339 


XX. 21. 


333 


'22! 


453 


23. 


358 


3L* 


93 


31. 


96, 144 


xxi. 15— 17. 


262 


ACTS. 




i. 11. 


80 


ii. 23.* 


67 


27, 31.* 


70 


31. 


71 


38. 


168 


39. 


399 



INDEX OF TEXTS. 



577 





X age 


iii. 12, 16. 


80 


iv. 12. 


230 


24, 25.* 


52 


36, 37. 


513 


V. 3, 4. 


513 


3, 9. 


358 


29. 


266 


34. 


87 


vi. 4. 


474 


vii. 41. 


304 


51. 


211,219 


59, 60. 


58 


viii. 12, 14, 17. 


352 


23. 


358 


26, to the end 398 


X. 


511 


25, 26.* 


53 


28!* 


400 


34, 35. 


230 


38.'* 


184 


44, 47, 48. 


394 


xi. 2, 3. 


499 


2—18.* 


257 


xiii. 48. 


212, 219 


xiv. 14, 15.* 


53 


15.'* 


57 


22. 


289 


23. 


335 


XV.* 


L/iO 


6.* 


268 


9. 


282 


7, 14, 19. 


499 


7,* note 


260 


19.* 


257 


28 


274, 281 


29.* note 


406 


39. 


185 


xvi. 14. 


158 


31—33. 


398 


xvii. 2, 3.* 


98 


11. 


95 


16, 24, 29. 


305 


29. 


57 


xviii. 28.* 


98 


xix. 2—5. 


393 


XX. 28. 


56 


28.* 


63 


34. 


180 


xxiv. 16. 


486 


xxviii. 23.* 


98 



ROMANS. 



passim 


142 


i. 7. 


45 


9. 


517 


20—32. 


306 


18, 24, 26. 
25. 


247 


327 


26, 28. 


212 


ii. 12. 


163 


12, 14, 15. 


230 


iii. 2. 


105,270 


4. 


509 


22, 29, 30. 


211 


24. 


161 





Pa2"e 


iii. 24,25. 


128 


25. 


66 


28. 


162 


iv. 2. 


158 


3, 22. 


160 


V. 1. 


286 


5. 


156 


12, to the end 


67 


12, 15. 


140 


12. 


148 


18. 


219 


vi. 


395 


3—5. 


392 


17. 


2 


23. 


144 


23.* 


187 


vii. 7. 


134 


11, 12,13,14, 16, 


17,18,21,23,24, 


25. 


175 


viii. 6. 


144 


7, 8. 


143 


13. 


146 


18. 


289 


26. 


85 


26.'* 


87 


9Q '\n 


91 1 


34.* 


82 


ix. 11. 


207 


11, 13. 


211 


17. 18. 


211 


18. 


219 


19. 


208 


20. 


211 


21. 


210 


22. 


212 


X. 9, 10. 


229 


14, 


223, 230 


xi. 20. 


158 


29.* 


211 


xii. 1. 


459 


6, 7, 8. 


334 


xiii. 1. 


272, 503 


2. 


150 


5. 


487 


6. 


503 


14. 


393 


xiv. 10, 11, 12.* 


83 


13. 


487, 488 


19. 


264 


23. 


150, 487 


xvi. 20, 24. 


45 



1 CORINTHIANS. 



i. 3. 


45 


17. 


397 


26, 27, 29 


158 


ii. 4. 


77 


10. 


^ 85 


10, 11.* 


87 


iii. 7. 


219 


10—15. 


293 


10—15,* 


note 293 


iv. 7. 


158,219 


V. 2, 5, 7. 


478 



2 p 







V. 5. 


190 


7. 


404 


11. 


357, 477 


vi. 6, 7. 


510 


11. 


164 


19. 


316 


20. 


178 


vii. 6, 12. 


281 


9. 


469 


14. 


400 


25. 


282 


38. 


179 


40. 


282 


viii. 5, 6. 


28 


ix. 5,* note 


468 


5. 


469 


18. 


180 


19 — 23. 


266 


20, 21, 22. 


328 


X.* note 


441 


2. 


391 


16. 


348, 410 


16, 17. 


351 


16.* 


412 


18. 


414 


18, 20. 


413 


xi. 1. 


185 


16. 


266 


23. 


404 


23, 27. 


351 


27, 29. 


411 


29. 


150 


xii. 4, 8. 9, 11, 13. 85 


12—26.* 


486 


13. 


395 


28. 


334 


xiii. 1, 2, 3. 


370 


2. 


380 


4,* note 


249 


4,* note 


468 


xiv.* note 


468 


14, 15,16, 17,26. 343 


40. 


264 


XV. 24*_28 * 


64 


27. 


82 


28. 


82 


21, 22. 


142 


22.* 


127 


33.* 


478 


40. 


82 


41. 


290 


49. 


141 


50. ^.oii 


82 


xvi. 22. ■ , 


478 


23. 


45 


2 CORINTHIANS. 


i. 2. 


45 


21, 22. 


353 


23. 


517 


ii. 1, 2, 3. 


478 


7. 


190 


iii. 17, 18.* 


87 


iv. 4. 


71 


17. 


171,289 



578 



IJNBEX OF TEXTS. 



V. 1, 2. 


290 i 


6, 8. 


290 


10.* 


83 


17. 


142, 209 


21. 


66 


21,* note 


166 


vi. 16, 156. 


281 


vii. 1. 


173, 177 


3. 


150 


X. 5. 


/I'AQ 


8. 


479 


14. 


499 


xii. 8, 9. 


58 


9. 


156 


13. 


45, 180 


xiii. 14. 


45,413 


GALATIANS. 


i. 1 * 12 » 17,* 


257 


3. 


45 


8,* note 


263 


8, 9.* 


478 


20, 


517 


ii. 4, 


264 


7, 8, 11, 


499 


11—14, 


185, 257* 


16. 


162 


21. 


209 


iii. 10. 


187 


iv, 4.* 


392 


4* 


406 


9. 


264 


v.l. 


264 


3. 


398 


6. 


168 


12. 


390, 478 


17. 


143, 146 


vi,18. 


45 


1. 


191, 477 


EPHESIANS. 


i. 2. 


45 


3_6. 9—11.* 


207 


7. 


66 


13, 14.* 


82 


13, 14.* 


156 


17—19. 


210 


18. 


247 


ii. i_9.* 


207 


2. 


71 


2, 3, 12. 


157 


15, 16, 20, 21. 376 


10. 


209 


20. 


260 


22.* 


156 


iii. 9. 


413 


17. 


156, 247 


iv. 4, 5, 6. 


28 


9. 

11—13, 16. 


69 
334 


22, 24. 


143 


30. 


85, 211 


V. 32. 


374 


vi. 23. 


45 



Page 
PHILIPPIANS. 

i. 2. 46 
23. 290 

ii. 1. 413 
6,7,8,9,10,11. 54 
6. 63 
10. 58 
12. 173, 181 

12. 13. 219 

13. 158, 209 

iii. 10. 413 
13, 14. 172 

iv. 18. 459 
23. 45 

COLOSSIANS. 



i. 2. 

14, 20—22. 

16* 

16. 

16, 17. 

19.* 

24. 

ii. 8,* 18.* 
9.* 

9* 10. 
12. 

18,8—10. 
18.* 

iii. 1. 

9, 10. 
17. 



66 
52 
63 
56 
82 
181 
291 
82 
324 
392. 395 
178, 323 
53 
392 
393 
173 



1 THESSALONIANS. 



1. 1. 
i 9. 
ii. 16. 
iv. 17.* 
V. 28. 



45 
57 
150 
83 
45 



2 THESSALONIANS. 



i. 2. 

ii. 11. 

iii. 6, 14, 15. 
14. 

18. 



45 
247 
192 
357, 478 
45 



1 TIMOTHY. 

i. 2. 45 
20. 478 

ii. 1—3. 333 
5. 323 

iii. 334 
2, 4, 5, 12,* note 468 

2, 4, 5, 12. 469 
15. 280, 334 

iv. 1, 3,* note 468 

3. 469 
6 2 

V. 1, 3, 17, 19, 22. 334 

1, 19, 20. 389 

20. 357 



vi. 3. 
3, 4, 
20. 



5. 



Page 
2 
389 
334, 350 



2 TIMOTHY. 



i. 2. 
9.* 
13. 
18.* 

ii. 2. 
15. 
17. 
19. 
26. 

iii. 15.* 
15—17. 

iv. 2. 

2, 5. 
8. 



45 
212 
2, 333 
29^ 
io. ^ 333 
K. 334 
478 
170 
481 
106 
95 
191 
334 
290 



TITUS. 



i. 4. 


45 


5,9, 13. 


334 


9. 


268 


13. 


191 


ii.l3. 


56 


14. 


168 


iii. 5. 


349, 395 


10. 


268, 334 



3. 

125. 



PHILEMON. 



HEBREWS. 



45 
45 



i. 3. 63 

4, 5. 61 

6. 58 
6,7,8,10,12.13,14. 61 

13. 213 

ii. 5. 288 
16. 62 

iii. 1. 62 

iv. 16. 156 

v. 4. 334 
10. 461 

vi. 220 
2. 352 
4—6. 189 
6. 191 
13, 14, 15, 16. 517 

vii. 23,24. 461 

26. 184 

27. 461 

viii. 12. 286 

ix. 3, 5, 7. 314 
11,12, 13, 14. 66 
12.* 461 
20. 405 
22.* 127 
22, 28. 461 
26. 66 

28. 66 



INDEX OF TOXTS. 





Page 




Page 


Page 


X.* 


129 


i. 19. 


66, 184 


2 JOHN. 


2. 


461 


ii. 13, 14. 


503 


I. O. 40 


10, 12, 14, 19, 29.* 66 


22.* 


184 


11, 12. 


461 


24. 


66 


14,* note 


461 


iii. 


348 


JUDE. 


25. 


266 


iii. 18. 


66 


28. 


, 126 


19. 


70 




38. 


220 


21. 


242, 351, 396 


23. 478 


xi. 10. 


- 290 


iv. 17. 


150,411 




xiii. 4. 


469 


V. 2, 3. 


335 


T> T3 \ 7 TT* T A ff^ T XT CI 

REVELATIONS. 


4,* note 


468 






i. 4, 5. 46 
7.* 82 


5. 
7. 

7,17. 
12. 

^^'^ 15. 
17. 
20. 


211, 281 

324 
335 

66 
459 i 
481 

66 


2 PETER. 


i. 15, 16.* 


93 


8, *11— 18,* note 28 
i. 8. 56 


15. 


96 


11, 19.* 93 


17. 


258 


11,12,13,17,18.* 28 


19. 
ii. 1. 


128 
219 


ii. & iii. 220 

iii. 5. 212 


JAMES. 


iii. 9. 

10, 12.* 


213 

82 


7. 261 
V. 8, to the end of 


i. 5. 


156 




chap. 58 


17, 18. 


211 






13. 64 


ii. 1. 


56 


1 JOHN. 


X. 5, 6. 517 


10, 11. 


187 






xiii. 8. 67,* 212 


24. 


163 


i. 9. 


355 


:xiv. 13. 290 


lii. 2. 


172, 180 


ii. 2. 


66, 219 


xix. 10. 53^^323 


11,* note 
V. 12. 


469 


20, 27. 


353 


10.* 57 


517 


iii. 6, 9, 18. 


189 


16. 56 


14, 15. 


379 


9. 


156 


|xx. 12. 212 


15, 16. 


191 


11,* 23.* 


486 


xxi. 5.* 93 


15,* note 


381 


16. 


56 


14. 260 


16. 


355,361 


iv. 21.* 


486 


i 27. 2^2 






V. 7. 


46 


xxii. 8, 9.* 53 


1 PETER, 


16. 


191 


9. 323 


i. 15. 


185 


i 18. 


189 


1*2, 13, 16,* note 28 


15, 16. ^<hUmU 150 


j 20. 


56 


12,* note 104 



5m mmx oi^mmmmim 



INDEX 



OF THE jyQ 

MATTER CONTAINED IN THE EDITOR'S NOTES. 



ABSOLUTION, canon of Trent pro- 
nouncing absolution to be a judicial 
and not a declaratory act, 358. the 
doctrine of the church of England on 
the same in her Liturgy explained 
and vindicated, 358, 359. in the pa- 
pal church supplies the place of con- 
trition, 360. 

Apocryphal, derivation, 89. 

Arius, character of, enters the field of 
controversy ; opinions, condemnation, 
excommunication, death, 60. 

Arminius,^ account of, 202. his five 
points, 203. opinions condemned in 
synod of Dort, 203. 

Attrition, what, considered with absolu- 
tion equal to contrition, 360. 

Augsburg, Confession of, presentation to 
the emperor, 5. effect upon the Diet, 
ib., see also 519 — 532. sosff 

Buchannan, Dr. Claudius, relates in- 
stances of the doctrine of a Trinity, 
6cc. &c., among the Hindoos, 42. 

JdS MS: .xdfum r^^' - 

CJassiaia^ founder of Semipelagianism, 
his doctrine attacked by the followers 
of Augustin, leading principles of his 
disciples, 152. 

-CJi^chism of council of Trent teaches 

-aiworship of the Virgin Mary, 326. 
maintains that purgatory is a fire, 
286. teaches the doctrine of super- 
erogation, 17 L 

Cerinthus, opinions of, avoided by St. 
John, 54. 

Chalcedon, council of, decree concerning 

the nature of Christ, 136, 
Christ, titles of the Godhead given to, 

28. 



Church, various senses of the word, 233, 
Notes of the Church, by Bellarmine, 
confuted, 239. whether Rome be a true 
church, 242, 243. whether visibility be 
necessary to its being, 248. where be- 
iore Luther, 248—250. ' Hear the 
Church,' &c., 280. 

Communion, half-, decree of council of 
Constance concerning, 457, 458. con- 
firmed by council of Trent, 458. 

Confession, church of England on the 
same, 356. decrees of councils of La- 
teran and Trent, ib. 

Contrition, necessary, according to the 
church of Rome, when the priestly ab- 
solution cannot be had, 360. 

Council of 

Antioch, condemned Paul of Samor 
seta, 47. 

Carthage, condemned Pelagius, 139. 
Second at ditto, ditto, 140. 
Chalcedon, condemned Eutyches, 
136. 

Constantinople, condemned the he- 
resy of Macedonius, 135. 

Constance, called to heal the papal 
schism, 273. 

Constance, decree on half-conamu^ 
nion, 457, 458. 

Diospolis, acquits Pelagius, 140. 

Dort, synod of, condemned Arminius, 
203. 

Ephesus, condemned Nestorius, 64, 
decreed against enlarging creeds, 
263. 

Another at Ephesus, called Conven- 
tus Latronum, took part with Eu- 
tyches,, 136. 

Florence, decree concerning purga- 
tory, 285. 

Jerusalem, acquitted Pelagius, 140, 

Laodicea, decree against invocation 



IN THE EDITOR'S NOTES. 



581 



Lateran, 2d council, decree against 
marriage of the clergy, 468. 

Ditto, against prayers in an unknown 
tongue, 344. 

Milevum, condemned Pelagius, 140. 

Nice, 1st council, condemned Arius, 
60. 

Nice, 2d council, decree concerning 
image worship, 311, 312. 

Trent, makes a new canon of scrip- 
ture, 88, 89. teaches that sacra- 
ments confer grace, 164. 

— canons respecting merit of good 

works, 171. 

— concerning relics and images, 312, 

313. 

— appeals to council of Nice on same, 

313. 

— decree and canons respecting ex- 

treme tmction, 378, 379. 

— decree on half-communion, 458. 

— doctrine and canon respecting 

adoration of the eucharist, 417. 

— decree making absolution a judi- 
■ - cial act, 358. 

— decree making attrition with ab- 

solution equal to contrition, 360. 

— decrees the Vulgate the authentic 

edition of the Bible, 257. 

— decrees concerning purgatory, 285, 

286. 

— indulgences, 299. -^^ 

— saint worship, 322. 

-r- doctrine of intention, 388. 
—- decree in favour of worship in an 
unknown tongue, 344. 

— decree establishing five new sa- 

craments, 351. ^' '2-- 

— decree concerning auricular con- 

fession, 356. 
— ^ makes words the matter of the sa- 
crament of penance, 356. 

liimanA bsamsbi^ ,lo bon . 

Deuteronomy vi. 4, much stress laid on, 

by the Jews, 27, 28. 
Dort, synod of, cDndemned Arminius, 

203. , 

J 3 dim Sisq Aoos^mnnoHBd gm 

Ebionites, origin, opinions of, 53, 54. 

Exicharist, adoration of, decreedby coun- 
cil of Trent, 417. novelty and danger 
of, 417, 418. vain pretence of adoring 
conditionally, 445, 446. 

Eutyches, founder of a heresy, the cause 



of a council being summoned at Con- 
stantinople ; there delivers his doc- 
trine ; degraded ; condemned at Chal- 
cedon, 136. 
Extreme unction, doctrine and canons 
of council of Trent concerning, and 
time of administering, 378, 379. not 
mentioned in James v. 14 ; 381. 

Godhead, unity of, the Lord our God 

one Jehovah — much stress laid on by 
the Jews, 27, 28. 
Gregory XVI. (present pontiff) teaches 
jnyocation of the Virgia Mary, , 326. 

-sd? .86C >J3fi ywi^bab s )oa has 

Homily, Saxon, rejects the doctrine of 
the corporal presence, 441, 442. of 
Church of England on Justification, 
161, 162. 

I. 

Images, canon of TreSt^ ^/ Aecreed 
to be worshipped by second council of 
Nice, 311, 312. of heathen original, 
308. 

Indulgences, account of their origin, 
298. gave occasion to the procedure 
of Luther, ib. decree of Trent on 
them, 299. 

Infallibility, asfotmded on the siq)posed 
necessity for it, confuted, 234, 235. 
considered in reference to the Jewish 
church, 236, 237. confuted, 256. and 
considered in connection with Sixtus 
Vth and Clement Vlllth's editions of 

^^ Vulgate, 257, 258. the precise seat of 
it unknown and not agreed on among 
themselves, 256. the power of the 
keys, examined by Whitby, 260, 261. 
* Thou art Peter,' considered by 
Jewell, 259. ' Hear the Chunih,^&c., 
examined, 280. , 

Intention, doctrine of, 388. 

Invocation of saints and angels^ «at9- 
€hism of Trent, 326. letters of pre- 
sent pontiff (Gregory XVI.), 326. 
decree of council of Laodicea against 
same, 324. , , : : 

Jansenius, of Ypres, his work * Augus- 
tinus,' account of, Mosheim's state- 
ment of it, effect of it on the contro- 
versy concerning grace, condemnation 



582 



WiMt OF THE MATTE!i' 



of five propositions in it by Innocent 
the Xth, controversy arising there- 
from respecting papal infallibility as 
to matters of fact, 200, 201. 
Justification, through faith. Hooker's 
judgments thereon, 161. and distinc- 
tion betvireen England and Rome as 
to the same, 165, 166. homily of church 
of England, 161, 162. by gifts received 
from God, 161. 

K. 

Keys, power of, considered, 260. Ter- 
tullian on, 261. ' Thou art Peter,' 
&c., primitive interpretation, Jewell, 
259. ' Hear the church,' &c. ex- 
plained, 280. 

M. 

Macedonius, founder of a heretical sect, 
elected bishop of Constantinople by 
the Arians, removed, again took pos- 
session of the see, persecutes the 
orthodox, his opinions, condemned at 
Constantinople, 1 35. 

Marriage, lawful in ecclesiastics, forbid- 
den by second council of Lateran, con- 
demned by Gregory VII., pleaded for 
in England and Germany, a sacra- 
ment in the papal church, therefore 
confers grace on the laity, and yet 
brings pollution and damnation on 
the clergy, 468, 469. 

Mass, sacrifice of, contrary to Hebrews 
X. 14 ; 461, 462. 

N. 

Nestorius, character of, appointed to the 
see of Constantinople, persecutes the 
Arians, espouses the cause of Anas- 
tasius, cited to the council of Ephesus, 
broaches his heresy, afterwards pre- 
varicates, deposed, banished, death, 
63, 64. 

O. 

Orders, opinions of Mason, Taylor, 
Milbourn, referred to thereon, 333. 

P. 

Pelagianism, vide Pelagius. 

Pelagius, character, his heresy, propa- 
gates it first privately, condemned at 
council of Carthage, goes into the 
East, supported by the bishop of Je- 



rusalem, assumes more boldness, ac- 
cused before a council at Jerusalem, 
afterwards acquitted by the council of 
Diospolis, appeals successfully to the 
bishop of Rome, opposed by the Afri- 
can church, condemned by the same 
bishop of Rome who had acquitted 
him, afterwards publicly condemned 
at Ephesus and other places, the 
heresy crushed in the bud by the in- 
fluence of Augustin, 139, 1 40. 

Prayers, in an unknown tongue, contra- 
dictory decrees of councils of Lateran 
and Trent, 344. 

Priesthood of Christ, passes not to an- 
other, therefore no new order~of 
priests to offer sacrifice, 462. 

Purgatory, decreed at Florence and 
Trent, canon of Trent, 285. a fire, 
according to Catechism of Trent, 
286. 1 Cor. iii. 10, examined, 293. 
of heathen original, Meagher's opi- 
nion thereon, 182. Bishop Taylor 
thereon, ib. 

R. 

Relics, canon of Trent respecting, 312. 
Eusebius misquoted thereon by Dr. 
Milner, 318. other fathers similarly 
corrupted according to Dr. James, 
319. 

Revelation, book of, citation by Cle- 
mens of Rome, 104. 

Rome, her fearful corruptions according 
to Baronius and others, 253. has 
added new articles to the creed of 
the church, 263. her question as to 
* Where was protestantism before Lu- 
ther?' answered and retorted, 248—- 
250. a true church in one sense, 
though not in another, 242, 243. 

Ruffinus, character, contests with Je- 
rome, first published the Apostles' 
creed, 69. 

S. 

Sacraments, seven in church of Rome, 
canon of Trent respecting them, 351. 
creed of pope Pius, on same. Appen- 
dix, are justificatory, according to 
Trent, 164. confer grace ex opere 
operato, according to Trent, 468. this 
asserted by Leo X., 469. 

Samosatenus, Paulus, his character, opi- 



IN THE EDITOR^S NOTES. 



583 



nions, condemnation, and expulsion, 
47. 

Scape-goat, ceremony not a distinct 
one, parts of the same sacrifice, mean- 
ing, 65. 

Schism, scandalous, in the popedom, 
suppressed by council of Constance, 
273j 274. vide Separation. 

Scripture, canon of, published at the 
council of Trent, 88, 89. confirmed 
by the creed of pope Pius IV. 89. 
church of Rome differs in this canon 
from itself in former ages, 90. cur- 
rent of antiquity against their canon, 
true state of this question, 90, 91. 
not the judge of controversies, but 
the rule whereby to judge them, 91, 
92. the only rule by which to deter- 
mine the notes of the church, 92. a 
sufficient rule for all who believe them 
to be the word of God, 92. 

Separation, from papal church, true 
grounds of — what constitutes schism 
— ^papal church guilty of schism — 
therefore the cause of the separation, 
100, 101. 

Semipelagianism, vide Cassian. 

Socinianism, vide Socinus. 

Socinus, Lselius and Faustus, founders 
of the sect of Socinians, their charac- 
ters, title of Socinian^ used sometimes 
in an imlimited sense, sum of their 
theology, 60, 6 L 

Spalato, archbishop of, visits England, 
renounces popery, embraces it again, 
- HAprisonment and death, Preface ix,^x. 



Supererogation, doctrine of, taught in 
Catechism of council of Trent, 171. 

T. 

Temple, second, how more glorious than 

the first, 120. 
Transubstantiation, makes Christ a 

transgressor of the Levitical law, 406. 

rejected in the Saxon Homily, 441, 

442. 

Trent, council of, defined and deter- 
mined new articles of faith, not pre- 
viously defined or determined, 284,285. 
Stillingfleet's views and arguments 
thereon, ib. canon on seven sacra- 
ments, 351. on absolution, 358. on 
confession, 356. on indulgences, 299. 
on works, 171. on efficacy of sacra- 
ments, ex opere operato, 164. on pur- 
gatory, 285, 286. on relics, 312. on 
images, ib. on Latin prayers, 344. 

Trinity, traces of the doctrine amongst 
the Hindoos, 42. 

U. 

Unction, vide Extreme. " 

"fol f>9.' w. 

Works, inefficient for justification, judg- 
ment of the church in her Homily, 
161. judgment of Hooker, 165. canon 
of Trent on the same— catechism of 
Trent asserts that they can satisfy both,^ 
for a man's own sins and those of ' 
others, 171. - z-^^ 

9ifa 89to098t9q jOlqonBafiiaiioO 993 

: Balls egaissJ 
id gsHssoid 



!»o Clones 



584 



NAMES AND WORKS 



AUTHORS REFERRED TO, OR QUOTED, 



THE EDITOR'S NOTES. 



Name and Designation. 



AUport, Rev. Josiah, Minister 
of St. James, Birmingham, 
Bagster, 

Barrow, Isaac, D.D., Master 
of Trinity College, Cam- 
bridge, 

Buchannan, Claudius, D.D. 
Vice- Provost of the College 
of Fort William, Bengal, 

Chillingworth, William, A.M. 

Clarke, Adam, LL.D., 
Clemens, bishop of Rome, 
Cosin, John, D.D. Bishop of 

Durham, 
Cossart, vide Labbe. 
Davenant, John, D.D., bishop 

of Sarum, 
Evagrius Scholasticus, of An- 

tioch, 

Eusebius, Pamphilus, bishop 

of Csesarea, 
Gibson, Edmund, bishop of 

London, 
Gregory XVI. pope, 
Homilies of the church of 

England. 
Hooker, Richard, 
Home, Thos. Hartwell, B.D. 



Hume, David, 

James, Thomas, keeper of the 
Bodleian Library, 



Centuries in which 
they flourished. 



17th 



18th and 19th 



17th 



19th 
1st 
17th 



17th 
6th 
4th 

17th and 18th 



16th 
16th 



18th 
16th and 17 th 



Works quoted. 

Translation of Davenant on 
the Colossians. 

Comprehensive Bible. 

Treatise of the Pope's Supre- 
macy, and a Discourse con- 
cerning the Unity of the 
Church. 

Christian Researches in Asia. 



Religion of Protestants, a safe 

way to Salvation. 
Sermons. 

Epistle to the Coinnthians. 
A Scholastical History of the 
Canon of Scripture. 

Letter to Bishop Hall. 

Ecclesiastical History. 

Ecclesiastical History. 

Preservative against Popery. 

Encyclical Letter. 



Sermon on Justification. 

Introduction to the Critical 
Study and Knowledge of 
the Holy Scriptures. 

History of England. 

Bellum Papale, and Treatise 
of the Corruption of Scrip- 
ture, Councils, and Fathers, 
&c. &c., for Maintenance of 
Popery. 



585 



Name and dosijrnation. 



Centuries in wliiclj 
they Hourislied. 



Jewell, John, D.D., bishop of 
Sarum, 

Labbe and Cossart, 

Lynde, Sir H., 

Maclaine, Archibald, D. D., 

Magee, William, D. D., arch- 
bishop of Dublin, 

Mason, Francis, B. D., Fellow 
of Merton College, Oxford, 

Milner, John, D. D., bishop of 

the Roman church, 
Milbourn, Rev. Luke, 

Meagher, Andrew, Doctor of 
the Sorbonne, 

Mosheim, Laurence, D. D., 
Chancellor of the Univer- 
sity of Gottingen, 

Morney, Philip, Lord du 
Plessis, 

Page, James R., A. M. , 

Pearson, John, D,D. bishop 
of Chester, 

Sixtus v., pope, 

Socrates Scholasticus, of Con- 
stantinople, 
Stillingfleet, Edward, D. D., 
'■-'-^ bishop of Worcester, 

Taylor, Jeremy, D. D., bishop 
of Down and Connor, 

Wake, William, D.D., arch- 
bishop of Canterbury, 



Whitby, Daniel, D. D., Pre- 
bendary of Sarum, 



16th 



17th 

ClM^tho^ix 

18th 
19th 



19th 
18th 




17th 
16th 
4.th 

17th 

bsfB, ibBI 

,17th 
17 th and 18th 

16th and i7th 



Works quoted. 



A Replie unto M. Hardinge's 
Answeare. 

Edition of the Councils. 

Via Tuta and Via Devia. 

Translation of Mosheim. 

Discourses on the Scripture 
Doctrine of Atonement and 
Sacrifice. 

Of the Consecration of the 
Bishops in the Church of 
England. 

The End of Religious Contro- 
versy. 

A Legacy to the Church of 

England. 
The Popish Mass. 

Ecclesiastical History. 



Mystery of Iniquity, the His- 
tory of the Papacy. 
Letters to a Romish Priest. 
Exposition of the Creed. 

Preface to edition of the Vul- 
gate. ; ^ 
Ecclesiastical Historj..^^ 

A Rational Account of the 
Grounds of Protestant Reli- 
gion. 

Polemical Discourses. 

Exposition of the Doctrine of 
the Church of England, in 
Reply to Bossuet, bishop of 
Meaux. 

Paraphrase of the New Testa- 
ment, and Romish Doctrines 
not from the Beginning. 



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